Rolls Royce’s unique Phantom range includes charitable NFTs – Ledger Insights
The British luxury car manufacturer Rolls Royce launched a NFT series associated with six new Phantom Series cars. The company teamed up with artist Sacha Jafri for this venture: The interior of each car includes unique hand-painted artwork by the artist representing one of six elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Air and Humanity.
The Six Elements project started in 2020 and the cars were unveiled last month. The NFTs are sold with the car, and the owner can sell the NFT independently of the car. Royalties collected through trading NFTs are stored in a digital wallet to raise money for charity. In its latest announcement in December 2022, the company said it has already surpassed its goal of raising over $1 million for charity.
“I am pleased with the success of this project. We and our dealer partners in Dubai and Abu Dhabi embarked on an amazing journey with a specific goal, which I am delighted we have not only achieved, but also exceeded, says César Habib, Regional Director, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Middle East & Africa, referring to the cars sold to customers in Dubai and the Middle East region.
Other luxury car companies have pursued similar collaborations with artists to create NFTs. In January 2022, Lamborghini launched an NFT collection with a set of digital space keys modeled on a carbon fiber composite sent to the International Space Station. McLaren partnered with InfiniteWorld to launch NFTs based on McLaren’s luxury cars. And BMW announced a metaverse-inspired concept car, with digital windshield screens that project a virtual world.
The Volkswagen Group has invested in its digital strategy, with the investments reflected in the Porsche, Audi and Skoda brands. Audi launched fractional NFTs, which sell parts of a single piece of art. Volkswagen’s South African subsidiary also launched NFTs through OpenSea, as part of an advertising campaign for the new Polo car. No later than November 2022, Porsche announced its first official marketplace for NFTs, which will feature 7,500 custom works of art of the Porsche 911 model. Porsche also incubates mobility technology startups. Forward31, a company started by Porsche Digital, launched Fan zone in 2021, a platform for digital trading cards using blockchain technology.
With the metaverse projected to have an impact on 5 trillion dollars by 2030, several sectors seek value in the metaverse. The initiatives listed are indicative of the automotive industry creating unique virtual experiences for deeper digital engagement in their projects. Consequently, executive reports indicate that the automotive industry is among the leaders in current meta-versa adoption. Seventeen percent of the sector plans to invest a significant portion of their digital budgets towards the metaverse.
