Frankfurt Motor Show: The best Christmas present ever

Autoblog's James Baggott reports from the Frankfurt Motor Show

ROLLS-ROYCE will hand a number of lucky customers the best Christmas present ever – their new Ghost!

Rolls-Royce chief Ian Roberton revealed the manufacturer will be delivering the first £200k Ghosts before Christmas.

'There are going to be a number of very happy customers,' he told a packed press conference at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

'New Rolls-Royce models don't come along very often so the launch of this new car is very important. It's an important milestone in the history of this brand.'

Chairman of Rolls-Royce Tom Purves added the economic downturn HAD hit the brand.

And he hinted that sales might not be as strong in 2009 as they had been in the last two record-breaking years. In 2007-2008, Rolls Royce went from selling 300 cars to more than 1,000.

'It would be a tall order to match the sales figures of the last two years in 2009,' he said. 'But we remain confident. We've balanced production with demand this year and kept staff on in the downturn.'

What is clear is the fact the Ghost represents a very big opportunity for the manufacturer - Purves revealed that 85 per cent of buyers expressing an interest in the model were completely new buyers to Rolls-Royce.

'We're continuing to expand our worldwide dealer network and take a proud heritage forward into this new chapter in our history,' he added.