WESTERN Australia may be the country’s weakest car market, but not in the high-end automobile sector where brands such as Rolls-Royce are reporting unprecedented sales growth.

Five new Rolls-Royce cars have been sold in WA this year, up from one in 2016, with 20 sold nationally, also a rise by 25 per cent on the previous year.

“We’ve had to go back to Rolls-Royce and ask for more cars,” said Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Perth sales manager at Barbagallos, James Figueroa.

“I’ve never sold this many Rolls-Royce cars before.”

Mr Figueroa said the buyers are getting younger and the value in the new cars was increasing rapidly, making them more affordable.

Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said in June that the average age of owners is just 45 years old, down 11 years from seven years ago. However, it could be as low as 40 in Australia.

Rolls-Royce’s clientele is younger than most other premium brands as US car research guide, the Kelley Blue Book, reports that in the US, the typical BMW owner is aged 50, while Mercedes owners average 51 years old.

Mr Müller-Ötvös said the decline in ownership age for Rolls-Royce models is attributed in part to self-made millionaires.

“It’s not any longer inherited money,” he said.

“The majority is all self-generated money in very young people who are already making fortunes, be it real estate, be it engineering, be it IT, be it Western entertainment, whatever.”

Rolls-Royce introduced the smaller, less-expensive Ghost sedan model in 2010 and updated in 2014, and followed that with the Wraith coupe (2013) and Dawn convertible in 2015. The three emphasise youthfulness and have attracted a younger audience.

Now it has launched the Black Badge series that proves pimping your car doesn’t have to be an aftermarket experience.

“This is the alter ego of everything that is Rolls-Royce,” Mr Figueroa said.

“Where wealthy buyers who wanted something different would get their Rolls-Royce customised, now they don’t have to – Rolls-Royce has done it for them.”

The first Black Badge model, the Wraith, was presented for the first time to WA audiences at an event held at the Barbagallo showrooms in collaboration with Helo Luxury Boutique.

The marketing aimed the car directly at the young, affluent audience that Rolls-Royce Asia Pacific regional director, Paul Harris, said “demands a bolder aesthetic and a more dynamic interpretation of luxury”.

“We are happy to see green shoots of recovery in Western Australia from quality tourism spending and uplifts in the mining sector.

“The recent resilience of luxury cars amid a minor decline in overall car sales gives us confidence that the success of Black Badge, as well as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in the region is assured.”

The Wraith Black Badge, to be followed by similar editions of the Ghost and Dawn, has a tuned bi-turbo V12 engine that has 870Nm of torque, up 50Nm on the standard model, with power staying the same at 465kW.

Aside from new colours schemes and additions such as the colour-changing Spirit of Ecstasy, it also has redesigned air suspension, new driveshafts and an uprated eight-speed transmission, and composite carbon-fibre and lightweight alloy wheels. Prices start at $749,000.

By Neil Dowling