Nearly all of the world’s Rolls-Royce cars are bespoke – and there’s a very good reason for it
The secret is the prestige automaker’s extraordinary customisation department. Want a display box for a Fabergé egg in your Phantom or Cullinan SUV? They’ll do it for you
More than 90 per cent of all Rolls-Royce vehicles sold are so personalised they’re practically one-offs.
With the Phantom estate car, that number reaches 99 per cent. And with the Cullinan SUV, it reaches absolute levels: of the Cullinan SUVs sold, 100 per cent have been customised.
That’s according to Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. He spoke as the Goodwood, England-based carmaker released 2018 data showing record global sales.
The figures are notable because they show a big jump in the popularity and value of customising already extremely expensive cars. The average price of a Rolls-Royce sold in the US, its biggest market, is US$400,000 including options.
In 2016, when 80 per cent of Rolls-Royce vehicles worldwide were heavily customised, bespoke additions added 20 per cent to the purchase price. For 2018, the added price was almost 40 per cent.
To keep up with demand – and put its payroll where its payday is – Rolls-Royce hired 100 employees devoted to the bespoke department. That represents an almost 6 per cent jump in total workforce to 1,900 and signifies where the company is focusing in 2019 and beyond.
Rather than developing hybrid or electric technology to grab sales like other manufacturers (never hybrid, maybe electric in 10 years, Müller-Ötvös said in October), Rolls-Royce is doubling down on what is working now.
“It’s needed,” Müller-Ötvös says. “Customers are increasingly intrigued by all the possibilities we can offer – they want to put their own personal signature on the product. This is super important for us selling extraordinary objects of this calibre.”