Rolls-Royce has acquired regulatory approval for an utility to develop its Goodwood plant within the U.Ok., and plans to start out development of the brand new additions to the location quickly.
Nevertheless, the growth is not geared toward enabling Rolls-Royce to develop volumes past the file 6,032 autos it delivered in 2023. As a substitute, it is to allow much more personalization, Rolls-Royce’s new chief, Chris Brownridge, informed Autocar in an interview printed on Wednesday.
“Our technique shifting ahead isn’t to develop quantity,” he stated. “It’s to develop the bespoke content material of the automobiles, as a result of that’s what makes it a particular expertise for our shoppers.”
Brownridge, who took over the lead position from long-standing chief Torsten Müller-Ötvös late final 12 months, stated the present plant was constructed when Rolls-Royce was delivering lower than 1,500 autos yearly.
Rolls-Royce Droptail (Amethyst)
Along with volumes rising 4 instances since then, demand for personalization has additionally grown to succeed in 100% of all orders. Rolls-Royce in recent times has additionally began manufacturing of one-off and very low-volume automobiles, the most recent being the four-car Droptail assortment.
In accordance with Brownridge, the plant growth will allow the automaker to beat sure bottlenecks within the present manufacturing course of. An instance is the paint store, which is proscribed to making use of two-tone colour schemes on 15% of orders when demand is at greater than 50% of orders.
Brownridge’s predecessor led Rolls-Royce for 14 years. Nevertheless, Brownridge additionally has loads of expertise within the trade. He was beforehand in command of BMW within the U.Ok., and has labored at numerous BMW Group positions for the previous 30 years.
Rolls-Royce is not the one BMW Group model with a brand new chief. Mini on Monday introduced that Stefan Richmann will take over as its chief from Stefanie Wurst on Aug. 1. Wurst solely held the place for 2 years. In a LinkedIn put up, she stated she is about to “embark on a brand new chapter.”
