Much like Bentley, from the moment the Germans stepped in to take over Rolls Royce’s automobile division in 1998 (completing the complicated, as it turned out, purchase in 2003), the world’s most famous luxury car brand has reaped success.

On Thursday, Rolls Royce Motors announced that in 2012, it achieved the best sales result in its 108-year history with 3,575 cars (+1 percent over 2011) and the third consecutive record.

“My aim at the outset of 2012 was another record,” commented the brand’s CEO, Torsten Muller-Otvos. “I am delighted to announce our sales for 2012 and to celebrate our 10th anniversary with an historic record result. We had an outstanding year in spite of the challenges we faced, and Rolls-Royce now leads the ultra luxury market by some considerable margin.”

Rolls Royce reported strong sales in many regions, with notable results in the Middle East (up 26%), Mainland Europe (up 21%), Asia Pacific (up 18%), Saudi Arabia (up 63%) and Germany (up 15%).

The carmaker said that the United States and China remained its most important individual markets in terms of sales in 2012.

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