The British super luxury motor brand, Rolls-Royce, erected a new benchmark on Thursday as the carmaker rolled out its new Phantom model with a completely fresh design - a contemporary interpretation of the DNA of the storied series.

Rolls-Royce's eighth-generation Phantom, set to meet its customers in 2018, comes with a more modernized silhouette and elegance facilitated by unparalleled advanced technologies hidden in the limousine.

"The new Phantom is a powerful statement of design, engineering and bespoke expertise and I am delighted with the response we have received from our many highly discerning customers worldwide," said Peter Schwarzenbauer, chairman of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

The new model of Rolls-Royce is expected to successfully retain the carmaker's position as the foremost automobile offering in the world, a result of the automaker's tireless pursuit of perfection, visionary engineering, aesthetic acuity and deep understanding of what the world's leading luxury item should be.

Torsten Muller-Otvos, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: "It is an icon and an artwork that embraces the personal desires of each of our individual customers. Every one of our customers - each a connoisseur of luxury in the extreme - was asking for something more individual to them, not less."

Design masterpiece

Even at first glance, the new Phantom is remarkable in its purity. Thanks to the new "Architecture of Luxury" design and new engineering processes, the precision body-joining process ensures there are few, if any, visible joint lines between body panels, giving the new Phantom the appearance of being hewn from a solid block of aluminum.

The new Phantom's grille is for the first time integrated into the surrounding bodywork. The resulting effect is a cleaner, reduced design with modernity and clarity, allowing all of the new Phantom's lines to connect with this iconic statement of power and flow from it.

A new, purposeful headlamp graphic gives a confident and focused expression with fresh, frosted internals that feel open and optimistic, while accommodating an expressive ring of daytime driving lights and the most advanced laser light system of any motor car that at night casts light 600 meters down the road.

From the side, the new Phantom has the iconic 2:1 proportions that have endeared so many to every generation of Phantom, featuring a short front and long rear overhang, an upright front and a flowing rear.

Superior car

The Goodwood, UK-based carmaker is introducing not only the flagship of the Rolls-Royce brand, but also stoking the exceptional top technologies hidden in the new Phantom until required.

The electronic architecture of the new Phantom is the largest-ever component built by the BMW Group, Rolls-Royce's parent company, helping to make the new Phantom the most technologically advanced Rolls-Royce ever. This central nervous system connects and controls all the various advanced intelligence systems.

Accompanying the increased stiffness of the spaceframe is a high comfort chassis with air suspension and state-of-the-art chassis-control systems, delivering a peerless 'effortless' ride and handling, and optimal vibration comfort performance. Rolls-Royce's celebrated Magic Carpet Ride improves as a result of a new lighter architecture, and the latest generation of self-leveling air suspension.

Future of true luxury

Beyond pulling off the cover of a new product, Rolls-Royce opens the next chapter by shifting to an entirely new luxury business model. The company concluded that the future of true luxury lies in true small-volume manufacture of a dedicated "Architecture of Luxury".

The term refers to an all-aluminum spaceframe architecture designed by Rolls-Royce engineers that will underpin every future Rolls-Royce beginning with the new Phantom.

"This realization through Architecture of Luxury is a moment of clarity about the destiny of Rolls-Royce," Muller-Otvos said.

The company believes it is a truly revolutionary approach for the luxury motor industry. Contrary to other luxury automakers sharing platforms with volume brands, Rolls-Royce will be uncompromising in using only its own architecture across all the vehicles.

The groundbreaking architecture has been designed and engineered in a way as to be scalable to the size and weight requirements of future Rolls-Royce models, and compatible with different propulsion, traction and control systems, thus underpinning the long-term future product roadmap.

"Besides the new Phantom, the project Cullinan and eventually the next Ghost, Wraith, Dawn will ride on this architecture, and future coach projects," said Philip Koehn, director of engineering of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

New concept

The new Phantom offers an unprecedented new concept in luxury - the Gallery, a wholly contemporary and luxury reinterpretation of a motor car's dashboard and instrument panel area.

"Art is at the heart of the conception of the new Phantom's interior," said Giles Taylor, director of design. "As an interest, we know that a huge number of our clients are patrons of art and indeed have their own private collections. Art is a binding factor for many of them."

By realizing a space in the upper dashboard, Taylor envisioned a new use - to create an area for bespoke works of art and thereby multiply the personalization potential for every owner of a new Phantom. As a bespoke commission, customers will be able to choose a favored artist or designer to work with Rolls-Royce to create a truly individual work of art that spans the width of the Gallery in their new Phantom.

Rolls-Royce has already worked with a number of artists, designers and design collectives to demonstrate what kind of creations are possible to put behind the glass of the Gallery for the owners' pleasure. Works includes an oil painting inspired by the South Downs of England in autumn by renowned Chinese fine artist Liang Yuanwei.

Citing China as one of Rolls-Royce's most important markets, Muller-Otvos said: "I am also personally talking to customers in China regularly to get their insights (about) what is important to them.

"Rolls-Royce is offering all options to Chinese consumers, and more and more customers from China come to the United Kingdom, sitting with our designers, and designing their cars in full detail in Goodwood."

haoyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/28/2017 page15)