Daimlers Maybach has been a huge flop while Bentley has been successfully raking in customers with its Continental range. But one brand that sticks out in the ultra-luxury class is Rolls-Royce. With sales of 1,010 last year and cars priced around $350,000 a unit, Rolls-Royce deserves special recognition.

However, with the credit crunch and current economic situation its hard to say whether or not Rolls-Royce will continue to be?a success. Nonetheless, the BMW Group brand is working to hold onto its buyers, at the same time trying?to attract new ones with smaller and less expensive models.

In 2010, Rolls-Royce will bring to the market its RR4, a smaller Rolls-Royce with a more informal presence than big-daddy Phantom. There will be a bigger emphasize on driving dynamics with power coming from either a 6.0 V12 or the BMW X6s xDrivea50is twin-turbo V8. Pricing will be around or below $250,000 with annual sales targeted at 1,800 units.

The already sold-out Phantom Coupe will be arriving in the U.S. this fall. Rolls-Royce has not yet said how many Phantom Coupes it will produce in 2009.

Rolls-Royce RR4 Design Sketches: