Rolls-Royce factory to expand for more bespoke cars

Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce volition grow its Goodwood mill and planetary office to conscionable the increasing request for bespoke models.

It volition put much than £300 cardinal truthful it tin physique much highly-customised versions of its cars for its super-rich clientele.

The 120-year aged British marque came nether afloat power of German carmaker BMW successful 2003 and officially opened the tract successful West Sussex the aforesaid year. Rolls Royce says this enlargement secures its aboriginal successful the UK.

Rolls-Royce sold 5,712 cars successful 2024, down from its grounds of 6,032 successful 2023.

While those numbers whitethorn look tiny compared with the millions of cars delivered each twelvemonth by mainstream manufacturers, Rolls-Royce operates successful a highly rarefied market.

The marque said it "does not disclose prices" but it is understood its cheapest model, the Ghost saloon, sells from astir £250,000 upwards. Its Cullinan sports inferior conveyance and electrical Spectre models are thought to commencement astatine astir £340,000.

In comparison, the mean UK location terms was £297,000 past year, according to Halifax.

The terms of bespoke models tin alteration widely. When it comes to the astir elaborate creations, the last merchandise tin outgo respective times the basal terms of the car.

There are comparatively fewer buyers who tin spend to wage truthful overmuch for a car. Among those who tin are celebrities, who often bash not caput flaunting their wealth.

Among them are US stars Kim Kardashian and Nicki Minaj, arsenic good arsenic British rapper Stormzy who was banned from driving aft being caught utilizing a mobile telephone down the instrumentality of his Wraith successful London.

For immoderate customers, simply owning a Rolls-Royce isn't exclusive enough. In caller years, the institution has progressively focused connected gathering highly-customised versions of its cars, which tin past beryllium sold astatine adjacent higher prices.

It has invested successful "private offices" successful Shanghai, New York, Seoul, and Dubai, wherever clients tin speech to designers.

That is generating "more analyzable commissions" and "driving the need" to grow Goodwood to person much space, Rolls Royce main enforcement Chris Brownrich told Radio 4's Today Programme.

Rolls-Royce describes this strategy arsenic creating "opportunities for meaningful idiosyncratic expression" for clients.

In practice, this has included cars with holographic paint, containing one-off artworks, oregon featuring intricate hand-stitched embroidery. One model, designed arsenic a homage to the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger, includes features made retired of coagulated 18-carat gold.

Rolls-Royce is not unsocial successful this. Other high-end manufacturers specified arsenic Bentley, McLaren and Ferrari besides connection elaborate customisation.

But making individually tailored cars, portion profitable, is simply a labour-intensive process that requires clip and space. At the aforesaid time, similar different manufacturers the institution is preparing for a aboriginal successful which accepted cars volition beryllium phased retired and replaced by electrical models.

Rolls-Royce said the hold of its mill would "create further abstraction for the progressively analyzable and precocious worth bespoke and coachbuild projects sought by clients who specify luxury arsenic thing profoundly idiosyncratic to them".

It added that the program would "also acceptable the manufacturing installation for the marque's modulation to an all-battery electrical conveyance future".

The carmaker has already been granted readying support for the enlargement of the Goodwood plant, which was built successful 2003 and initially housed 300 workers. There are presently much than 2,500 radical moving connected the site.

"This represents our astir important fiscal committedness to Goodwood since its opening," said the Rolls Royce main executive, Chris Brownridge.

"It is simply a important ballot of assurance successful the Rolls-Royce marque, securing our aboriginal successful the UK," helium added.

As a luxury carmaker focused connected export markets, Rolls-Royce is insulated from galore of the challenges presently facing the wider European centrifugal industry. However, it has been affected by a autumn successful request successful China, 1 of its astir important markets.

Earlier this year, Mr Brownridge said rising request for personalised vehicles was helping to offset that decline.

The announcement comes weeks aft different celebrated British marque generated contention portion mounting retired its ain plans for the future.

Jaguar – a portion of Jaguar Land Rover – is to beryllium relaunched arsenic an all-electric marque and moved sharply upmarket arsenic portion of a large restructuring astatine the company.

In December, it unveiled a dramatically styled conception car, which unneurotic with a caller logo and a divisive online advert sparked a societal media storm – and generated plentifulness of file inches.