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Rolls Royce Motor Cars New Rolls-Royce Manufacturing Plant and Head Office project ready for planning application.
The £60 million UK-based investment will create the world´s most exclusive car plant with initially 350 new jobs and an all-new Rolls-Royce luxury sedan from 2003 onwards.
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1998 - 2007 Copyright & |
Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Goodwood, U.K.
On 4 May 1904, Rolls, Edmunds and Royce met at the Midland Hotel. Rolls was initially skeptical about the abilities of a two-cylinder powered car to be as refined as he believed would be necessary to appeal to his customers. However after a drive he became totally supportive and said later that Royce “ was the man I have been looking for years”.
In anticipation of the formal agreement between Rolls and Royce the 10hp car carried the Rolls-Royce radiator and name. The Rolls-Royce company was formed in March 1906 and the following year Royce produced the Silver Ghost, which was to set the standard for all models that followed.
Subsequently the resulting Rolls-Royce motor car company at Crewe became part of Vickers plc, with the aero engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce plc keeping the rights to the marque.
The new Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited at Goodwood In 1998 the existing production facilities at Crewe plus the Bentley name were sold by Vickers plc to Volkswagen, whereas the BMW AG acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce marque for automotive business from Rolls-Royce plc for the continued development and production of Rolls-Royce motor cars at an entirely new plant from January 2003 onwards. The decision was made that a site on the Goodwood Estate, near Chichester in West Sussex would become the new home of Rolls-Royce motor cars, the sixth in the company’s history, after Manchester, Derby, Crewe, London and Springfield. In January 2003 the all new Phantom was
launched to the world by the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, now
being a stand alone company of the BMW Group, produced from its new
plant at Goodwood, on schedule, as planned five years previously.
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Rolls Royce in 2006: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is celebrating its third successive annual sales increase since 2003, confirming the Phantom as the world’s leading super luxury car. Last year the company retailed 805 cars, a 16-year high for the marque.
Speaking at the unveiling of the new Phantom Drophead Coupé at the Detroit Motor Show, Rolls-Royce Chairman and Chief Executive, Ian Robertson, said, “At a time when the global automotive industry is facing many challenges, I am pleased to report another increase in sales for Rolls-Royce. It marks our third year of growth and points to a sustainable future for the company that will see expanded operations at Goodwood and the Phantom joined by further new models.”
The USA remains the biggest single market for Rolls-Royce with the UK in second place. China became the third largest single market in 2006, growing by more than 60 per cent. Rolls-Royce exported cars to more than 50 countries around the world in 2006 including Angola, Dominican Republic, Guadalupe, Nigeria and Turkey. However, the larger, established markets still account for the majority of sales. The top five dealers worldwide in 2006 were, respectively, Beverly Hills and Tokyo sharing the top spot, London, Dubai and New York.
Production of the new Phantom Drophead Coupé has already begun at the company’s Goodwood manufacturing plant on the south coast of England. The first customer cars are expected to be delivered in the summer.
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