Welcoming the new Dawn: Rolls Royce Launches the Car of the Future

A super-powered four seater convertible, Rolls Royce Dawn is the most ardently anticipated car on the planet and holds true to its meteoric hype. Mr Paul Harris, APAC Regional Director, previews the Dawn, a car that is revved up to conquer unchartered territories while redefining luxury motoring in its truest form

By: Niyoshi Chudgar

Posted on: July 26, 2016

In the world of opulence, innovation, top-notch technology and potent engine power, Rolls Royce upped the ante with the launch of its latest convertible luxury coupé. It has all the right elements of becoming one of the true great Rolls Royces of our era. With a hulking 6.6 litre twin-turbo V12 up-front, churning up 563 horsepower at 5250 rpm and 575 lb-ft of torque at 1500 rpm, the engine’s remarkable power is unmatched. 

Embodying contemporary finesse, the car’s silhouette is characterized by gallant optimism, which is poised and ready to go. Four individual seats offer matchless comfort. The classic interior with a wooden and chrome dashboard is crafted for the ultimate motoring experience. Other details include a bespoke audio system with 16 speakers and a Spirit of Ecstasy rotary controller with a sleek touchpad. The system recognizes handwritten characters in several languages, including Arabic and Mandarin. 

With the top up, it provides captivating privacy and with the top down, you can effectively display your refined choice to the world. The top roof can be taken down in a record 20 seconds, meaning you’re just half a minute away from modestly changing your style statement. Working with a fabric roof configuration, they have aimed to make the quietest convertible in the world. This quest for silence applies to all aspects of the roof’s engineering. Now carved into motorized parlance – the noiseless mechanism of Dawn’s roof is called the ‘Silent Ballet’.

Campaigned with a unique social media blackout 24 hours prior to the launch, with the tagline “It is always darkest before the…Dawn”, the Dawn is aimed at a broader, younger and more digitally aware audience than the traditional Rolls Royce customer. The APAC Regional Director, Mr Paul Harris says, “The average age of the Rolls Royce customer has dropped from 53 to 45 year olds in a matter of just 5 years, thanks to our advanced luxury saloon Ghost and fastback coupe Wrath, the most powerful Rolls Royce ever built. Therefore, to cater to this new audience, we launched Dawn in a pure online campaign. This is the first time we have ever launched a new model in this way. Thousands of journalists across the world watched a live online streaming of our Chief Executive, Torsten Muller-Otvos and renowned UK personality Jodie Kidd presenting this seductive convertible in all its luscious glory. We have acknowledged that our customers are global citizens, almost entirely online and mobile. Digital engagement is a ‘need’, not a ‘want’ – we call this phenomenon Online Oxygen.” 

While it may resemble the Wraith with the top chopped off, the British luxury marque steadfastly assures us that the Dawn is its own car. “Dawn is designed from the ground up, the majority of its body panels being new,” says Mr Harris. The engine is a different rating from the Wraith to suit its more relaxed disposition as a boulevardier. The Dawn is meant to deliver a striking, seductive encounter. 

To say that the Dawn is a must-have luxury would be an obvious understatement. This is a car intended to appeal to luxury lovers do their leisure activities stylishly, whether scampering from the golf course to the café or maneuvering along a picturesque route. Dawn lives in the moment and the moment is now.

The company has also announced the all new hi-tech aluminium architecture which will underpin the new Phantom, scheduled to be launched in 2018, as well as all the other future Rolls Royces. In addition to this, they have also launched “Project Cullinan” – a high sided Rolls-Royce vehicle which will be able to negotiate all types of terrain “effortlessly”. 

Recommended retail pricing for the Dawn in India is from INR 6.25 crore, with the car available in Rolls Royce Motor Cars showrooms in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Chandigarh.