The grill of a Rolls Royce motor car in view of residential properties in Mayfair in London, UK, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.
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British luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars on Wednesday said it is investing over £300 million ($369.9 million) to expand its global headquarters, citing growing demand for highly personalized models from its ultra-wealthy clientele.
BMW-owned Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, like other luxury car brands, has seen an uptick in demand for bespoke and complex car models in recent months.
Some of these individualized embellishments have included orders for solid 18-carat gold sculptures, intricate embroideries comprising more than 869,500 stitches and holographic paint finishes.
The company said its investment of more than £300 million at its Goodwood manufacturing facility in southern England would help to create space for bespoke and Coachbuild projects. The latter refers to an invite-only program where the firm’s clients can create an “entirely original motor car.”
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said the investment, which will likely be seen as a boost to Britain’s ruling Labour Party, represents the firm’s single largest injection of capital since the Goodwood plant opened 22 years ago.
“Rolls-Royce is a global business,” Chris Brownridge, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday.
“We have clients in every corner of the world and this growth in demand for more complex commissions from our clients is something that we need to satisfy. And so, the investment in Goodwood is something which shows the health of the organization but also shows how confident we are about our growth plans,” Brownridge said.
“What we are not trying to do is make more Rolls-Royces but what we are trying to do — and we will do — is make more special commissions and more remarkable motor cars,” he added.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said it had sold 5,712 cars last year, representing a 5% drop when compared to global sales of 6,032 in 2023. It attributed the slight downturn in sales to a switchover to new models.
North America was the firm’s largest sales region in 2024 when measured by the number of motor cars delivered to clients.
When taking all regions into consideration, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said its most-requested models last year were Cullinan, Spectre and Ghost, respectively.