Rolls-Royce drops Wraith, Dawn in U.S.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is jettisoning two models in the U.S. as the British ultraluxe automaker makes room for new product, including an all-electric vehicle in the next few years.

U.S. sales of the Dawn convertible and Wraith coupe will end after the 2021 model year, the company said, becoming the latest car nameplates to be dropped in a market that has shifted decidedly to SUVs and crossovers. The vehicles will continue to be available globally.

The two-door models helped Rolls-Royce diversify its customer base from billionaire barons to reality TV millennials. The Dawn and Wraith, combined, accounted for 23 percent of the 3,756 vehicles the automaker sold globally last year.

As an exclusive brand, Rolls-Royce thrives on scarcity.

“As we look into what we have coming in the future, we made the decision to take [the Wraith and Dawn] out to maintain the low volumes throughout the brand,” spokesman Gerry Spahn said.

The Dawn and Wraith will not move to Rolls-Royce’s Architecture of Luxury platform, limiting their shelf life, so bringing them to spec to meet U.S. emissions standards for 2022 didn’t make financial sense. The Cullinan SUV and Phantom and Ghost sedans ride on the new platform, which supports internal combustion engines and battery-electric vehicles.

Limiting product proliferation is critical for high-price, small-volume manufacturers, said Adam Simms, CEO of Price Simms Auto Group, which operates a Rolls-Royce store in Silicon Valley.

“The broader the product lineup, the more of these very expensive cars I have to inventory,” Simms said.

Discontinuing U.S. sales of the two models also allows Rolls-Royce to devote more production capacity to the redesigned Ghost and family-friendly Cullinan.

The Cullinan is “bringing in the young families to the brand right now, more so than anything else,” Spahn said.

The Dawn and Wraith helped Rolls-Royce attract new and younger buyers.

The average customer age dropped to 43, the automaker said last summer. It was 56 before 2010, when the Ghost joined the lineup and started the brand’s product push beyond the flagship Phantom.

The Wraith coupe, launched in 2013, lured Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s performance buyers as a “sporty” Rolls. The Dawn convertible, which debuted in 2015, has drawn female buyers to the brand.

Rolls-Royce is looking beyond the throaty V-12 engine synonymous with the brand to stay relevant as the adoption of EVs is expected to explode. Several major cities across the globe plan to ban diesel-powered or gasoline-powered vehicles from their centers by 2030.

The first full-electric Rolls will be offered “within this decade,” CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told Automotive News Europe last year.

Production of the EV is expected to begin by early 2024, according to AutoForecast Solutions.