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FRANKFURT -- At the auto show here this week, auto executives continue to fret over sputtering sales. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars' answer to the worst downturn in decades: Its new Ghost model, to be had for a mere $245,000.

Though the Ghost has the same hand-crafted interiors and famous grill, the sleeker and slightly shorter model costs about one-third less than the $380,000 starting price of the British car maker's flagship Phantom.

As more people globally can afford a Rolls, though, the company faces a delicate balancing act: boosting sales while not diluting the brand's exclusive cachet.

"They are obviously actively chasing greater volume but not so actively that it's to the detriment of the brand," said Paul Newton, an automotive analyst at IHS Global Insight in London. After all, he added, "If you're out there spending a big chunk of money on a car, you'd like some exclusivity."

The Ghost's launch comes at a critical time. Rolls-Royce sold a record 1,212 Phantoms last year. But as the economic downturn caught up with even the superrich, sales plunged 34% in the first half of this year, tarnishing what had been a bright spot for its German parent, BMW AG.

Meanwhile, Rolls faces growing competition for the lower rung of the upper crust from Bentley, its former sister brand before engine maker Rolls-Royce PLC sold the motor car business to Volkswagen AG and the Rolls-Royce brand to BMW a decade ago. Under VW, Bentley introduced the first of its Continental line of luxury cars six years ago, priced between $150,000 and $200,000.

Bentley sales have since risen 10-fold to more than 10,000 cars in 2007, before dropping back to 7,600 last year. But the Continental's success underscored the market to be had in the niche above Porsche and Mercedes-Benz but below Rolls-Royce.

"We always knew there was a wider opportunity," said Tom Purves, Rolls-Royce's chief executive. "This is more of a car for the business suit than a tuxedo."

So far, the Ghost appears to be hitting the mark: Some 1,200 potential buyers have signaled "strong interest" or pledged to order one, about the same number of total Phantoms sold last year, the company said.

As the economy recovers, the car maker says it expects to sell at least 2,000 annually, boosting its total production nearly threefold.

The company has gone to great lengths to preserve the model's Rolls-Royce quintessence, yet at a downsized price. It saved in manufacturing costs at its factory in southern England by using a steel shell as opposed to the Phantom's more costly aluminum, and it borrowed from BMW's electrical and safety-system technology.

But the details remain Rolls-Royce. The Ghost's soft leather seats are made from bulls kept away from barbed-wire fences to avoid blemishes to the hide (female cattle skins tend to show stretch marks).

Rolls-Royce's Mr. Purves said 85% of the people who have expressed interest in the Ghost have never owned a Rolls, uncommon among Phantom owners. "It's a very appropriate car for our time," he said.