MUMBAI: Rolls Royce, the preferred automobile of erstwhile maharajas, has opened its first dealership in India to position itself for the well-heeled consumers of a fast developing economy.

The company expects to sell 10-12 of its luxury Phantom cars a year in India to “ultra high net worth individuals,” which would make the market similar in size to Australia or Singapore. It sells 45-55 cars a year in China through three dealers.

Priced upwards of 30 million rupees ($648,000), the Phantom found its first Indian buyer last year in a stud farm owner whose chauffeurs received special training from a representative who flew in from London.

“We are being very pragmatic about India: it has always been on the radar, and is really our last port of call in Asia,” said Colin Kelly, Asia Pacific director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.

“The brand hasn’t been here for 51 years, so our immediate priority is to increase visibility,” he said at the showroom, housed in a spanking new luxury mall in the country’s commercial capital, Mumbai.

Buyers of Rolls Royce today are likely to be self-made entrepreneurs, people in the performing arts, sportsmen and those with “old money”, Kelly said.

“Someone who has $20 million in cash and in assets, and likes cars, loves beautiful design, craftsmanship and engineering ... that’s the kind of person we’re looking at,” he said. “Anyone that buys a Rolls Royce has to feel good about how they’ve earned their money.”

DaimlerChrysler faced some embarrassment last year when it emerged that a betel tycoon who had bought a 56-million-rupee Maybach car as a birthday gift for his daughter was wanted by Interpol for questioning about alleged links to the underworld.

But apart from tax returns, potential Rolls Royce buyers may also be daunted by the chaotic traffic, potholed roads and inadequate parking in Mumbai.—Reuters