Truly remarkable
A record year for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars for both sales and bespoke work means that its leather workshop is busier and more important than ever.
In unprecedented and unpredictable year, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars bucked the trend of many companies and carmakers by reporting record sales in 2021, delivering 5,586 cars to clients around the world. It demonstrates that despite uncertainty and declining sales in the general market, the demand for luxury goods from very wealthy people is stronger than ever.
Every car that left the facility had some element of bespoke work – and the ability for highly skilled craftsmen and women to personalise the cars with high-end materials is what sets Rolls-Royce apart, according to its CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “Bespoke is the reason our clients come to us,” he says. “Bespoke gives owners the ability to personalise their Rolls-Royce, expressing their ambitions, tastes and legacies.” The record number of cars with bespoke work resulted in some truly remarkable commissions, he added.
Over 2,000 people are employed at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ head office and manufacturing plant in Goodwood, England, the only place where the cars are built. The flexible manufacturing process, running two shifts and at near-maximum capacity, and the skilled staff are noted as the company’s greatest assets. “We have always recognised the fundamental importance of investing in future talent,” says Mr Müller-Ötvös of recent investments, “not just to support our business objectives, but to build the skills and knowledge base within UK luxury more widely.”
Apprenticeship drive
This year, the company will take on 37 apprentices, 15% more than in 2020 and the largest intake since the programme’s inception in 2006. Successful applicants will spend between two and four years preparing to work as craftspeople in the company’s leather workshop and other parts of its factory. Candidates will receive paid, on-the-job training and part-time formal education, leading to formal qualifications, up to and including degree-level qualifications.
Internships will also be available in the Bespoke Collective, a team of engineers, designers and craftspeople who take inspiration from historical events and figures, artworks, artefacts, nature and the architectural world to create a unique set of cars that represent their owner’s style and personality. The leather workshop is central to this and employs around 300 people.
Contemporary craftsmanship
During 2021, the level of detail included in some of the custom cars represented “some of the finest examples of contemporary craftsmanship ever seen”, according to Mr Müller-Ötvös. “Rolls-Royce is not, never has been and never will be a volume-driven business. We are no longer just an automotive manufacturer, we have transitioned to being a true luxury house focused on creating the very best and most precious luxury products in the world.”
Reflecting this, the carmaker teamed up with another luxury house, Paris-based fashion group Hermès, to create a bespoke Phantom for billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, the founder of Japanese fashion e-commerce platform Zozotown. While the two companies had previously partnered on a custom Phantom for the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris in 2008, this exclusive collaboration marked the first for a private client. In a reflection of Mr Maezawa’s taste for antique Japanese Oribe ware, which he collects, the car’s green and cream exterior was inspired by the ceramics’ traditional glazes – and Rolls-Royce made the Oribe Green paint available for the client’s matching private jet.
The car’s leather interior, designed with Mr Maezawa’s jet in mind, has largely been finished in Hermès’ Enea Green leather, complete with saddlery-inspired stitching. The brand’s Toile H canvas features on the door armrests. Mr Müller-Ötvös comments it was a privilege to unite on such a creatively challenging and technically demanding commission. “This magnificent expression of our pinnacle product represents a landmark for Rolls-Royce, bringing together two houses with more than three centuries’ combined experience and heritage,” he says.
Another Phantom was commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary of California residents Glenn and Gigi Moss, with the date and time they met, and wed, etched in. The interior includes white hand-crafted leather offset by black highlights, piping and contrast stitching. Their Phantom Tempus was delivered to them at an exclusive celebration, together with a special Bespoke Dawn Black Badge.
A Shanghai-based client commissioned a Bespoke Wraith in Pebble Paradiso blue, described as a seaside-inspired paradise. Inside, there is an artwork featuring a baby girl’s footprints, a tribute to the client’s long sought-after bundle of joy. The two-tone interior features shades of blue called Charles Blue and Seashell in natural grain leather. A Bespoke Starlight Headliner, which incorporates up to 1,600 hand-placed fibre-optic stars in the perforated leather roof lining, continues the celebration with a personalised constellation paying tribute to the daughter.
Another highlight in 2021 was a spectacular Cullinan, created to mark the UAE’s Golden Jubilee. The exterior includes the national flag rendered in Hotspur Red, Fame Green and black. Bespoke illuminated treadplates read ‘50th’ and the tailored interior mirrors the exterior, with matching leather and contrast stitching. The UAE’s emblem is embroidered on each headrest.
Electric future
All models performed strongly during the year, particularly the Ghost, the Cullinan and the Phantom, which is described as the marque’s pinnacle product and which uses 18 half-hides in the interior. Order books are full well into the third quarter of 2022.
Work is also under way to bring Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric car, Spectre, to market by the fourth quarter of 2023. This 2.5-million-kilometre testing protocol will simulate more than 400 years of use. Rolls-Royce is targeting full electrification of its entire offering by 2030.
“Our extremely strong product portfolio, an exceptional Bespoke offering, together with the first full year of availability of Ghost and the continuing record demand for personalisation has contributed to our extremely strong performance,” concludes Mr Müller-Ötvös. “Building on the year's success, we will continue to evolve as a true luxury brand, beyond the realms of automotive manufacturing.”
Commissioned to celebrate a couple’s anniversary, this Phantom Tempus includes latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates marking the precise location they met.
All Credits: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
