Lai See | Rolls-Royce's new ultra-luxury car wraithed in hyperbole

It cannot be denied that Rolls-Royce produces remarkable cars. It has recently produced another one - the Wraith - which was unveiled in Hong Kong yesterday in some style.

After the speeches, a darkened partition wall slid back to reveal the new Wraith appropriately "wraithed" in dry ice smoke shimmering in the gloom with its lights on. But it's a shame that Rolls can't produce a beautiful new car, albeit what they like to call an ultra-luxury car, without hyperbole that verges on the ridiculous.

We can just about go along with, "Featuring, a contemporary two-door-design, Wraith's striking fastback body exudes power, style and drama - inspired by the Grand Tourers of the fifties and sixties." But then we move into overdrive with, "Bold lines, tension in the panels and a raked rear screen evoke the image of a world-class athlete poised in the starting blocks."

This detracts from what is undoubtedly a superbly engineered car. But then with a starting price of HK$5.5 million, you would expect something special. That said, it is slightly more than half the price of the extended wheelbase version of the Phantom at HK$9.8 million.

It is the most powerful car Rolls has produced and will go from zero to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds, which is something for a car of that size.

Hong Kong, with 250 to 300 "modern" Rolls-Royces, still has the highest number of these cars per head of population in the world. The US remains the biggest market, closely followed by China. Sales were up 18 per cent in the Asia-Pacific last year. Altogether, 3,500 Rolls-Royces were produced last year, well up on the 1,200 produced in 2009. First deliveries of the Wraith will be in the last quarter of 2013.