Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

For other uses, see Rolls-Royce.
This article is about the BMW subsidiary established in 1998. It is not to be confused with Rolls-Royce Motors.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited
Private
Industry
  • Manufacturing
  • Distribution
Founded United Kingdom (March 1998 (1998-03))
Headquarters Goodwood, England, United Kingdom
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
  • Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO
  • Peter Schwarzenbauer, Chairman
Products
Services Automobile customisation
Number of employees
 1,300 (2014)
Parent BMW
Website rolls-roycemotorcars.com

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited engineers, manufactures and distributes luxury automobiles and automobile parts worldwide. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW established in 1998 after BMW was licensed the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand name and logo from Rolls-Royce PLC and acquired the rights to the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grill shape trademarks from Volkswagen AG. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited operates from purpose-built administrative and production facilities opened in 2003 across from the historic Goodwood Circuit in Goodwood, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom. Rolls-Royce Motors Cars Limited is the exclusive manufacturer of Rolls-Royce branded motor cars since 2003.

Although the Rolls-Royce brand has been in use since 1906, the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars subsidiary of BMW AG has no direct relationship to Rolls-Royce branded vehicles produced prior to 2003. The Bentley Motors Limited subsidiary of Volkswagen AG is the direct successor to Rolls-Royce Motors and various other predecessor entities that produced Rolls-Royce and Bentley branded cars between the foundation of each company and 2003, when the BMW-controlled entity started producing cars under the Rolls-Royce brand.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom four-door sedan was the first product offered for sale in 2003. Since then, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has expanded its product line up to include an extended wheelbase version of the Phantom sedan, a Phantom two-door coupé and Phantom convertible version and the less expensive Ghost four-door sedan and Wraith two-door coupé.

History

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited was created as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW in 1998 after BMW licensed the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand name and logo from Rolls-Royce PLC and acquired the rights to the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grill shape trademarks from Volkswagen AG. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited has been manufacturing Rolls-Royce branded cars since 2003.

Although the Rolls-Royce brand has been in use on vehicles since 1906, the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars subsidiary of BMW AG has no direct relationship to Rolls-Royce branded vehicles produced prior to 2003. The Bentley subsidiary of Volkswagen AG is the direct successor to Rolls-Royce Motors and the other various predecessor entities that produced Rolls-Royce and Bentley branded cars between the foundation of each company and 2003.

Current chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös joined the company in January 2010, with a pledge to regain the quality standards that made Rolls Royce famous in the 1980s. That year, the company's sales in China increased by 600%, meaning that it is now Rolls Royce's second largest market after the US.[1]

Ownership and licensing of trademarks

In 1998, Vickers decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. The most likely buyer was BMW, who already supplied engines and other components for Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, but BMW's final offer of £340 million was beaten by Volkswagen's £430 million.

A stipulation in the ownership documents of Rolls-Royce dictated that Rolls-Royce plc, the aero-engine maker, would retain certain essential trademarks, including the Rolls-Royce name and logo if the automotive division was sold. Although Vickers plc sold the vehicle designs, nameplates, administrative headquarters, production facilities, Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grill shape trademarks to Volkswagen AG, Rolls-Royce plc chose to license the Rolls-Royce name and logo to BMW AG for £40 million, because Rolls-Royce plc had recently had joint business ventures with BMW.

BMW's contract to supply engines and components to Rolls-Royce Motors allowed BMW to cancel the contract with 12 months' notice. Volkswagen would be unable to re-engineer the Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles to use other engines within that time frame. With the Rolls-Royce brand identification marks split between the two companies and Volkswagen's engine supply in jeopardy, the two companies entered into negotiations.

Volkswagen agreed to sell BMW the Spirit of Ecstasy and grill shape trademarks and BMW agreed to continue supplying engines and components until 2003. Volkswagen continued to produce Rolls-Royce branded vehicles between 1998 and 2003, giving BMW time to build a new Rolls-Royce administrative headquarters and production facility on the Goodwood Estate near Chichester, West Sussex, and develop the Phantom, the first Rolls-Royce from the new company. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited became the exclusive manufacturer of Rolls-Royce branded cars in 2003. Rolls-Royce announced in September 2014 that a new technology and logistics centre will be built, due to open in 2016, 8 miles away from the main headquarters, in the seaside resort town of Bognor Regis.[2]

Products

Ghost

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Wraith

Rolls-Royce Wraith

Dawn

SUV

Former products

Phantom

Rolls-Royce Phantom

Concept Vehicles

Sales

The all-time high record of sales was achieved in 2014, at 4,063 cars,[15] beating 2013 sales by 433 cars. In 2011, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited sold 3,538 cars, an increase of 31 percent compared to 2010, beating the previous sales record from 1978. The strong sales growth occurred in the Asia Pacific region, Britain and the Middle East with sales increases of 47 percent, 30 percent and 23 percent respectively.[16]

Calendar year Total sales
2005[17] 796
2006 [17] 805
2007[18] 1,010
2008[19] 1,212
2009[19] 1,002
2010[19] 2,711
2011[16] 3,538
2012[20] 3,575
2013[21] 3,630
2014[15] 4,063

References

  1. ↑ TurboJet Horizon: 'Roll with the changes', published 1 November 2011
  2. ↑ "Rolls-Royce plans Bognor Regis technology centre". BBC News. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost - Specifications, Pictures, Prices". Leftlanenews.com. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  4. ↑ "Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II" (PDF) (Press release). Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. 4 March 2014. p. 2. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Peter Orosz. "Rolls-Royce Wraith: This Is It". Jalopnik. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith Set for 2013 Geneva Auto Show". Edmunds. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub: 'Most dynamic and powerful Rolls-Royce in history set for debut at Geneva', Press Release published 18 January 2013
  8. ↑ "Rolls-Royce Unveils Plan to Build a Super Luxury SUV". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Rolls-Royce SUV on course for 2018 debut". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  10. ↑ "SUV da Rolls Royce já rola com o nome Cullinan". Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Rolls-Royce 'Cullinan' SUV spotted testing | Autocar". www.autocar.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  12. ↑ "2008 Rolls-Royce Hyperion Images, Pricing and News". Conceptcarz.com. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  13. ↑ Blanco, Sebastian. "Rolls-Royce Mini auf autobloggreen". Green.autoblog.com. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  14. ↑ Savov, Vlad. "The Rolls-Royce Vision 100 concept is completelty, irredeemably ridiculous". The Verge. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  15. 1 2 "ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS CELEBRATES FIFTH SUCCESSIVE SALES RECORD". Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. 6 January 2015.
  16. 1 2 "January 9, 2012 - Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce enjoys record sales".
  17. 1 2 http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=26820 BMW Group Achieves New Sales Revenue Record In 2006
  18. ↑ "BMW reports 90% drop in 2008 net profit to 330 million euro". Bmwblog.com. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  19. 1 2 3 Usrey, Bryan (11 January 2011). "Rolls-Royce Has Massive Sales Year in 2010". Carnewsbreak.com. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  20. ↑ "Rolls-Royce Announces Record Sales In Company's 108-year History". Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  21. ↑ "Rolls-Royce says it is looking at designs for a 4x4 vehicle, as it reports record sales". BBC News. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2013.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars timeline
Type 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Ownership Independent Vickers plc VW Group BMW
Luxury car 10 hp
15 hp		 V-8
20 hp		 Twenty 20/25 25/30 Wraith WWII Silver Dawn Silver Cloud Silver Shadow Silver Spirit/Dawn Silver Seraph Ghost
Ultra-luxury car 30 hp 40/50 hp (Silver Ghost) Phantom I/II/III Silver Wraith Silver Wraith II Silver Spur Ghost Extended Wheelbase
Phantom IV Phantom V/VI Touring Limousine Park Ward Phantom
Convertible Corniche/II/III/IV Corniche V Phantom Drophead
Coupé Camargue Silver Spirit Hooper 2 Door Phantom Coupé
Wraith
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