Rolls-Royce is thinking about an expansion of its comparatively-inexpensive Ghost, which is priced about $100,000 less than its elder brother, the Phantom.

Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, CEO of Rolls-Royce said during an interview with Bloomberg that he was confident that we might see a Ghost derivative soon as there is a lot of potential in the market.  And why not, considering that Rolls-Royce recorded its highest sales last year ever since BMW bought the British automaker in 1998. The firm is hoping to double the 1,002 sales worldwide in 2009 to about 2,000 this year for the uber-luxury sedan that starts at $245,000. It has already recorded 1,467 sales through August.

Rolls-Royce cars have been a strong contender against Volkswagen AG’s Bentley and Daimler AG’s Maybach, with its beautiful hand-craftsmanship and “magic ride”: an aficionado’s term for the car’s smooth handling. The Ghost is the firm’s second product line, the first being the more-formal Phantom starting at $380,000. Rolls-Royce has further plans of expanding its presence in its second-biggest market, China; India and the Middle-East. But Mueller-Oetvoes insists that the brand will still remain largely exclusive.

The luxury-car company had recorded a 17% drop in sales in 2009, owing to the global financial crisis. The recovery of the market was further boosted by the Ghost, which is being attributed to the demand for a “less formal Rolls model” in the market.

via carscoop