ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge launches in India
Indian buyers can now place their orders for the Black Badge version of the Rolls-Royce Ghost.
In October 2021, the luxury carmaker announced that the Black Badge would be coming to India.
The Ghost Black Badge is a more exclusive version of the standard Ghost.
It is “darker in aesthetic, more urgent in personality, and dramatic in material treatment”.
The Ghost Black Badge has the same 6.75-litre V12 engine as the standard counterpart. But it churns out an extra 29bhp and 50Nm of torque.
When it comes to styling, the Ghost Black Badge borrows several elements from other cars in the Black Badge series.
Features such as Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Ecstasy and grille are drastically darkened.
It also has a set of new, bespoke alloys with a carbon-fibre barrel.
But it is not just the exterior.
As described by Henry Cloke, designer at Rolls-Royce, the Ghost Black Badge’s interior is developed around the “post opulence” philosophy which fosters minimalism and purity.
It features black Bolivar veneers and technical fabrics are woven in a diamond-shaped pattern that has an ethereal glowing fascia supported by more than 90,000 laser-etched dots.
The various elements featured on the dashboard and other areas in the interiors of the car are darkened using physical vapour deposition, a method that ensures no discolouring over time.
While there are over 44,000 paint jobs to choose from, black remains the most popular option for the series.
The all-wheel-drive Ghost also features a ‘Low’ driving mode that enhances driving functions, including 50 per cent sharper gearshifts from the 8-speed automatic and a tweaked exhaust note.
Other dynamic enhancements over the standard car include more voluminous air springs, which are designed to reduce body roll in hard cornering, a bespoke throttle map, revised tuning for the all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive steering systems, and raising of the brake pedal’s biting point while reducing its travel.
In India, prices will be available upon request, but it is believed that it will be priced around Rs. 12 Crore (£1.24 million).
The hefty price is due to the fact most luxury cars are brought in through the Completely Built Unit (CBU) route.
CBU refers to several imported cars and bikes which are directly bought in ready shape for sale. The whole car has to be booked and an order has to be placed for a customer to buy it.
As a result, they are taxed more than their original cost.
In terms of competitors, the Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge will take on the Bentley Flying Spur.
The Black Badge is currently available on the Cullinan and Ghost models.
According to the brand, the Black Badge series has been crucial in reducing the average age of Rolls-Royce buyers, which has dropped from 56 to 43.
The Black Badge models account for approximately 40% of all Rolls-Royces sold, far greater than the 15% that the manufacturer originally predicted.
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