Super luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is likely to source design and R&D services from India.

"Rolls-Royce would look at the option of outsourcing some of the designing, prototyping and R&D to our parent BMW's R&D centre to be set up in India. This will help us in achieving a high degree of customisation of our cars to Indian conditions, without compromising on the quality," said Colin Kelly, regional director, Asia Pacific, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Kelly, however, denied Rolls-Royce having plans to manufacture or assemble units in India.

He was in India to inaugurate Rolls-Royce's first dealership in Mumbai, which will be owned and operated by Navnit Motors. Earlier, Rolls-Royces were sold through Navnit's BMW dealership.

Rolls-Royce has sold seven Phantom saloons in India in the last 18 months, priced in the range of Rs 3-5 crore (Rs 30-50 million). Its parent, BMW, will invest Rs 110 crore (euro 20 million) to build an assembly unit near Chennai and a wholly-owned sales subsidiary in Delhi. It will also spend money to set up an R&D and design centre in the country.