Rolls-Royce expands its facility to construct its custom-made vehicles at a more leisurely pace.
Typically, when an automaker expands their factory, it's due to one major purpose: building more vehicles. However, this isn't typical for Rolls-Royce. Producing and selling more Rolls-Royces would threaten the brand's well-known exclusivity.
Therefore, this factory expansion is not about making more vehicles, but rather making more pricy vehicles, which necessitates ample time and space for specialized workshops and the storage of exotic materials.
This factory expansion is indicative of Rolls-Royce's ultra-wealthy customer base. Although they can only purchase a certain amount of vehicles, they can definitely spend more on each one.
Since 2020, Rolls-Royce has seen a 17% increase in sales, reaching a record of 6,032 cars and SUVs worldwide the previous year. Curiously, the average amount customers paid for their cars escalated by 43% during the same period, rising from $350,000 in 2020 to $500,000 per car on average the following year.
Much of this increased revenue per vehicle stems from more elaborate and time-consuming personalization requests – what Rolls-Royce refers to as "bespoke." They even have two distinctive bespoke programs, "Bespoke" and "Coachbuild," for completely customized models.
"We're not growing that much in volume," shared Martin Fritsches, president of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Americas. "That's not the focus point. But clearly, our bespoke area is becoming more significant. And has expanded dramatically, particularly over the past couple of years."
More Extravagant Customers
This will be the first significant factory expansion since its construction in 2003 following BMW's acquisition of the brand in 1998. Prior to that, Rolls-Royce cars were manufactured concurrently with Bentleys – Rolls-Royce had purchased Bentley in 1931 – at a factory in Crewe, UK.
Currently, Bentley, now owned by Volkswagen, continues to produce vehicles in Crewe and possesses its own customization program.
Last year, nearly three-quarters of Bentley purchasers requested customizations beyond the brand's already extensive options list, an increase of 43% from the year prior.
Likewise, Italian supercar manufacturers Lamborghini and Ferrari have both reported increased levels of interest in customization programs.
"We are constrained in terms of [market] size and in terms of [market] segments," Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said in a recent interview with CNN. "So we have to make the most of every single vehicle."
The surge in elaborate vehicle customization can mainly be attributed to the increasing abundance of ultra-wealthy individuals globally. These individuals currently possess more wealth and are seeking to spend it on luxuries such as cars with diamond dust in the paint and picnic accessories built into the trunk area.
"The customer is well-off, but they're not foolish," Javier Gonzalez Lastra, investment partner with Tema ETFs, a luxury goods investment fund, commented. "You need to justify the price increase."
Bespoke doesn't only imply selecting paint hues, although customers can undoubtedly do so. Rolls-Royce customers even provide their own nail polish or necktie, requesting that their car matches this color. Additionally, customers may request unique wood inlay patterns, distinctive fabric designs, and integrated cabinetry in their vehicles. These are the sorts of intricate requests that have been on the rise in number and complexity, Fritsches claimed.
The preeminent examples of these requests thus far involve paintwork like the iridescent finish on the Rolls-Royce sedan dubbed "Phantom Syntopia." Both the car's exterior and interior featured this effect, which was achieved by using varying amounts of glass particles. Moreover, a curving fabric design within the car was adorned with light shone through thousands of extremely thin fiberoptic cables. The car's interior even included a custom scent, which is a first for Rolls-Royce.
The Phantom Syntopia likely cost more than $3 million, although Rolls-Royce refused to disclose the exact cost. This vehicle required 18 months to construct after a four-year design and development process, as per Rolls-Royce.
"This really signifies that you need to allocate a considerable amount more time to craftsmanship," Fritsches remarked. "And this is where you'll need additional space for additional materials."
Though the Phantom Syntopia was an extraordinary example, other projects encompass options like intricate wood and mother-of-pearl inlays.
Expanded output of highly personalized cars requires more space for assembly and for specialized workshops to fulfill orders more efficiently and swiftly, as per Fritsches.
Rolls-Royce has even produced a handful of entirely custom-built vehicles that differ not only in specifications, but also in color and unique features. These vehicles, including the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, featuring three built, are completely singular and may cost tens of millions of dollars.
Read also:
Source: edition.cnn.com
