Rolls-Royce rides high on Asian high rollers

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Soaring fuel prices and global economic woes might have hit the auto industry hard, but they haven't put the brakes on luxury brand Rolls-Royce's surging demand from Asia's growing numbers of millionaires.

Owned by the world's biggest premium carmaker, BMW, Britain's Rolls-Royce had record sales last year and Asia-Pacific regional director Colin Kelly says China led the way as the top Asian market and world number 3.

"When we first came into the Chinese market, we were a brand that was probably in decline for 25 years, the awareness of it wasn't very high at all, so now we're in a situation where we're building on the back of five years of growth," Kelly said.

"We've got people who bought the car, and people who love the car, they talk to their friends, and so the word is getting out."

Chinese bought more than 8 million vehicles last year, while Rolls sold around 100 in China and Hong Kong, a number expected to jump nearly 60 percent this year.

Two-thirds of Rolls' Asian consumers are new to the brand.

China's super rich, who bought more than half the Rolls-Royces sold in Asia, are not blinking at the new Phantom Coupe's approximate $400,000 sticker price and nearly double that after taxes.

Kelly says price, taxes or issues such as weak economies are less likely to impact buyers of Rolls-Royces, although no industry was immune.

"The people who buy these cars have a high degree of wealth accumulated, so they're not going to be as impacted as people who buy more mass-produced items," he said.

"We'll never have the big volumes...We'll still be able to count our customers on our fingers as opposed to with a calculator."

(Editing by David Fogarty)