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Rolls Royce unveiling Project Nightingale, its first coach build collection model, at least in the past few decades, an ultra limited car offered to just one hundred clients worldwide. Bloomberg's Hannah Elliott from Bloomberg Pursuits Rights, Rolls Royce is selling something much more ephemeral, true exclusivity as the company pushes into hyper luxury and customization. Joining us now as the CEO,
Chris Brownridge. So, Chris, this is pretty exciting. I got a sneak preview I will say of what it looks like just on someone's laptop, But it is a massive vehicle and it has a massive price tag to match.
Of course, Project Nightingale is the first of our commission collection motor cars, and what that means is it's a motor car where our clients have had an extraordinary behind the scenes experience. But also the motor car they get is extravagant, extraordinary and will be extremely rare. So it's a very very special project for Rolls Royce Motocrs.
Matt in the latter part of that mentioned the price tag. What is the value of one of these things.
Well, we never talk about money, it's rude, But just to give you an indication if you were looking at it, sits somewhere between our one of one coach Bill motor cars and our very complex private commissions.
I mean, I got to say, like probably fair to say this is the most expensive ev ever, right at least is that the ballpark we're talking about.
I wouldn't want to comment any further on that.
Right now we're talking about three to five million dollars. Probably I would guess closer to the higher end of that range. Hannah Elliott wrote a fantastic piece on it, and she shows in her story the Rolls Royce seventeen ex which inspired the shape of the new car. So, coll who's buying these things? Can you give us any names?
Well?
The wonderful thing is that the client base for this motor car were involved in the project two years ago, so they've been on the inner circle. And the great news is this is the first time that Rolls Royce Motor Cars will deliver a coach built motor car into the United States. In fact, about a third of the allocation of motor cars that will Bill will come to this country.
Is this I mean, are you moving away from being a car maker and turning into a luxury experience provider or a marketer of exclusivity. I mean it seems like it's customization built on a fixed chassis.
Well, Rolls Royce is perfectly placed today to really take advantage of the shifting trend in luxury where it's all about the experience as well as what is actually created. And so every Rolls Royce that we build today is for a client because they've requested it, and Coach Built allows us to show our potential clients the possibilities of their Rolls Royce Coachbuild Collection is a very important project for us. It's a permanent part of our product offer.
Now, what is the geographical spread of clients for this car?
Look like it is literally all over the world, and that's the wonderful thing. So these are motor cars that will be seen. We have clients in Asia, we have clients in Europe, we have clients in America. So of course Project Nightingale will be seen and they will be driven. Many of the clients who I know are looking forward to taking delivery of their motor car have told me that they will use it every day.
What are you learning at Rolls Royce that you can pass on to Oliver Tips and your parent company BMW. I was down in your private office, for example, and I saw the level of customization that's possible, The sort of understated luxury of the place, the elegance of it really blew me away. But it strikes me that you're not just a halo brand for BMW, but you also are kind of a luxury laboratory for them.
Rolls Royce is a true house of luxury. Everything we produce is because the clients asked us to produce it. But what we've seen in the last few years is a cli growth in demand for more complex commissions. Since we've opened the private office here in New York, the level of demand for those commissions has increased dramatically, and we're seeing that at all parts of the world.
How does Middle Eastern deliveries look. We know Ferrari pulled back amidst a war. How are you catering to clients in that region that are dealing with the war on their doorstep?
Well, of course, the Midley situation is one that we're watching very very closely. It's an important region for us, and our thoughts are very much with the people that are affected by the situation. Right now, however, demand for Rolls Royce globally is still very very strong, so of course it's too early to say what sort of impact that may have. I don't think anyone knows at this stage.
But you're still you're able to sell one hundred five million dollar cars. Let's just say, I'll pick a number, so Ferrari can do this as well. Now you see Pegani and Kuenigzeg doing this. I mean, is this an unprecedented time where people were the amount of people that are so wealthy to buy as many products at that level exist.
It's clear that the ultra high net worth audience is continuing to grow, but their tastes for luxury are very much shifting away from just having objects to having experiences or creating objects which are meaningful, personally resonant, and that really plays to Rolls Royce's strengths. Everything we create is because a client has asked us to do it, and Project Nightingale is a great example of that, where not just the motor car itself, but the client journey is
something which is truly remarkable. Remember these clients have been in the inner circle for two years and they'll be part of the testing process for the motor car as well, so their experience is something that quite literally money can't buy. This is about a relationship that we have with our clients.
One of the experiences I would love to have and will hopefully someday soon as a tour of your factory at Goodwood. This is the estate of the Duke of Richmond, where the Festival of Speed happens and where you have your factory which normally puts out your production cars. But now you've invested some massive some I think three hundred million pounds to enable this luxury process. What was involved in that.
Well, it's very clear that demand for more complex commissions is increasing and it's increasing rapidly. That's a core part of the Rolls Royce luxury model, and so we've extended the facility in Goodwood so that we've got space for those commissions. It also increases our capacity for more complex paint finishes on motor cars and also these coach bill
projects too. The whole principle of Rolls Royce is about scarcity, so we extend our factory so that we can create more value for each motor car rather than creating more volume of motor cars.
So, by the way, do you share your margins are? What are your margins and how have they grown?
We don't talk about specific details, but what I can tell you is we make a very meaningful contribution to our shareholder BMW Group.
All right, it's been great having you here, Chris brown Ridge. I hope the next time I see you is that Goodwood.
Hope.
I would like to go. I don't know when the I want to go to the revival. So they have the revival there, Danny, you have to explain the Festival of Speed is exactly what it sounds like. The festival modern cars and everything, but the Revival is like a throwback.
So you dress everyone does as if you.
Were in like pre war the pre war era.
Sorry, what does that mean? You dress as if you were in the pre war era.
But it's like you go dressed as Downton Abbey basically or whatever you like to.
Create nineteen fifties clothing. It's a very special event. I'd say it's one of the best events on the on the calendar