Rolls-Royce to open showroom in one of world's poorest countries: Cambodia

Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce to market cars in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, which has an average per capita annual income of just over £600, but a small, wealthy elite

A 1972 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Silver Shadow I Photo: Rex

AP / The Telegraph | 9 June 2014

 

Fabled luxury car maker Rolls-Royce will soon be marketing its goods in one of the world’s poorest countries: Cambodia. 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced on Monday that it has joined with a Cambodian business partner to open a showroom in the Cambodian capital next month.

^{A 1920 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost (Tom Wood/ Alamy)}

The move comes despite Cambodia’s average per capita annual income, according to the World Bank, being just over £600 - a bit less than one-half of 1 per cent of the cost of the cheapest Rolls-Royce. 

However, a small but wealthy elite lives in the capital of the mostly rural nation, and it is not unusual to see various models of high-end Lexus automobiles passing by pedicabs in the city’s dusty streets. 

Rolls-Royce Asia-Pacific regional manager Paul Harris said five Rolls-Royces have been sold in Cambodia since 2005, but the company believed demand would grow along with Cambodia’s economy. 

^{A Yellow Rolls Royce Convertible (Alamy)}

“Nobody would believe that such a luxury car would come to Cambodia,” said Minister for Industry and Handcrafts Cham Prasidh, who was present for the announcement. 

Cheaper Japanese models still dominate the market, but the upgrading of roads – which had suffered from war and neglect – and the rise in people’s living standards mean other car manufacturers from various countries are now entering the Cambodian market, he said. 

^{Roll Royce Phantom series II (Getty)}

Rolls-Royce announced it had signed a deal with HGB Group Co., Ltd to take the cars to the Cambodian market.