Rolls-Royce CEO Chris Brownridge Talks North America Sales, EV Future - podcast episode cover

Rolls-Royce CEO Chris Brownridge Talks North America Sales, EV Future

Jan 08, 20258 min
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Episode description

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO Chris Brownridge discusses North American sales and a move into EV's through the Spectre car, with Bloomberg's Matt Miller, Katie Greifeld, and Sonali Basak.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

Speaker 2

Rolls Royce Motor Cars didn't sell more vehicles last year, but it made more money. At five seven hundred and twelve. BMW's pinnacle luxury car makers sold about three hundred fewer total units than each of the two previous years, but at a higher average price on a ten percent jump

and bespoke deliveries. As a result, Rolls Royce is now investing an additional three hundred and seventy five million dollars and it's goodwood manufacturing facility to meet rising demand for personalization that can drive individual transactions deep into seven figures. Joining us now is Chris Brownridge, the CEO of Rolls Royce Motor Cars. And Chris, this is I think a fascinating strategy move that you have made with the company, and it goes beyond just sort of paint to sample

or picking a different leather. Tell us about some of the personalizations that people are doing. Well.

Speaker 3

Matt, first of all, good morning, and thank you for inviting me onto your show. Last year was a tremendously successful one for Rolls Royce and you know that at Rolls Rice we make handmade bespoke luxury goods for our clients and we strive to deliver them an extraordinary experience. And our bespoke collective team is right at the heart

of our business. What we aim to do is create a masterpiece for each client and the investment that we've announced today is all about facilitating that through creating the capacity and the space within our manufacturing facility at the home of Rolls Royce in Goodwood, so that we can deliver those projects.

Speaker 2

So, but what your customization goes beyond the customizations of almost any other car maker I can think of, certainly any one that produces in the hundreds or thousands of cars a year. What kind of investment are you making and what is it going to allow you to do to these cars?

Speaker 3

Well, mat Rolls Royce bespoke means something very profound. It can be something as simple as having a hand painted coach line on your Rolls Royce that perhaps has your family motif on the outside of your motor car, or perhaps embroidered in a head restraint. It could be something more profound, celebrating the relationship you have with your partner, where the headliner on the interior of the car which uses fiber optic cables to recreate a constellation of stars.

It could show the constellation on the night that you met in the location that you met, or it could be something much more profound whereby For example, last year we made a car for a very famous client where the interior of the car used silk paneling in the headlining and the doors where we embroidered a particular flower and hand painted that flower and created a facier panel, a dashboard panel inlaid with mother of pearl because it

reminded them of the different homes they own. So the diversity is extraordinary, and this extension will mean that we've got more capacity and space to deliver these projects because they are very time consuming. And it comes hand in

hand with us expanding our network of private offices. Now at Goodwood, the home of Rolls Royce, our clients come to us and they meet the design team, but not every client can come to us, so we've opened private offices in Dubai and Shanghai, in Seoul and of course in New York, where our designers are working nearer to the clients and they can bring their ideas to life

so effectively. This network of private offices is driving a growth in the demand for these wonderful creations and that's why we're preparing the facility in Goodwood.

Speaker 4

What's your fastest growing market right now? It's interesting to hear more about the private offices. Certainly the Middle East is an area that a lot of investors have been looking at for growth. But is there one area more than others that you see more potential and what are the demographic striving that growth.

Speaker 3

Well, the wonderful advantage Rolls Royce has is it's got a heritage of one hundred and twenty years and it's famous throughout the world and our business is present throughout the world, so we have clients in every corner of the world, across every region. Of course, the USA is our biggest region and we have a strong client base there, but across the world we've seen significant growth in Europe

and the Middle East and also APAC this year. And the great thing is we're seeing in every corner of the world significant demand, particularly for our bespoke creations.

Speaker 1

And Chris, I want to talk a little bit about the future here. Obviously, when it comes to evs you have Specter. It's selling very well. You talk about in your release how this manufacturer manufacturing facility will help your transition to in all battery future. It's been interesting watching the trends though you see hybrid selling very well in sort of the normal market, the non luxury market, and even in the luxury market. Could a hybrid ever be in your future?

Speaker 3

Well, I'll start by talking about our experience with Spector this year and now Specters, a super luxury coupe, are absolutely stunning motor and in twenty twenty four it was the first full year that we were delivering this motor car to our clients and it's been a very successful year for Spector. In fact, it was the second most demanded Rolls Rice, which is extraordinary. And what we have with spect it's the first Rolls Royce to use a

very highly developed electric powertrain in a Rolls Royce. And our clients have told us that what this does is it amplifies all the characteristics that you'd expect of a Rolls Royce, the silence, the waft ability, the ease of driving and that magic carpet ride. So the feedback that the most important group our clients has given us is that they think this is a wonderful Rolls Royce and with the databack set up, the client's satisfaction with Spectra is the highest of any of the motor cars that

we produce, So that's a really encouraging start. At Rolls Royce. We strive for perfection and our power trains are the finest for the motor cars that we deliver to our clients. Of course, we already have the wonderful V twelve combustion engine with Spector, we have our first electric power train, and both of them deliver the best possible experience for

our clients. We wouldn't deviate from that because we always want to deliver the best possible solution, and spect has told us very clearly that when we combine this new technology with a Rolls Rice, we can deliver the best car in the world.

Speaker 2

I can confirm that the V twelve is a highly enjoyable powertrain. I have not driven the Specter yet, Chris, what are are there any holes in your product offering? I mean you've got Colinan, which is your best seller, the big SUV. Spector, as Katie mentioned, has done very well. I tend to prefer Ghost or Wraith more drivers cars. Phantom is the one that we're looking at now, well, or that's Colnant, that's Colin in Phantom. Is the one

you want if you've got a chauffeur. Is there anything that you need to add to that product offering.

Speaker 3

Well, we have had a very busy year in twenty twenty five where we introduced the Specter for the first full year, and of course we introduced the cullen And Series two and Cullen And Series to Black Badge, and also the Ghost Series two and the Ghost Series two Black Batge. We've had a very busy year and we have a very very strong core product offer and all of our motor cars are like a blank canvas for

the bespoke offer that we provide to our clients. In terms of future products, I won't give any secrets away right now, but of course there are always exciting things that are coming down the line.

Speaker 2

All right, well, I'm excited and that's for sure. Rolls Royce really the pinnacle of luxury vehicles worldwide. Chris, great to have you on the program. Chris Brown. Next year of Rolls Royce Motor Cars on of Course by BMW

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