- Rolls-Royce is making its biggest investment in its plant since the site’s opening in 2003
- The investment is to support personalization services as well as EV production
- Rolls-Royce plans to unveil its second EV in 2025
Rolls-Royce is about to make the biggest investment in its plant since the site’s opening in 2003, but the investment isn’t aimed at enabling Rolls-Royce to grow production volumes. Instead, it’s to enable even more personalization, which will help to boost profits while still keeping the brand exclusive.
Rolls-Royce announced on Wednesday plans to invest more than 300 million British pounds (approximately $370 million) to upgrade the Goodwood, U.K. plant’s Rolls-Royce Bespoke personalization capabilities, while also readying the site for the eventual exclusive production of electric vehicles.
In its announcement on Wednesday, Rolls-Royce also confirmed plans to unveil its second EV in 2025. The automaker’s sole EV at present is the Spectre coupe, but the automaker is thought to be working on a SUV and sedan, both powered by batteries, for launch this decade. The sedan is anticipated to be a replacement for the Phantom, while the SUV is tipped to be a smaller offering than the current Cullinan.
Work on the upgrades to the plant has already begun following approval last year. CEO Chris Brownridge revealed last year that the upgrades will enable Rolls-Royce to overcome certain bottlenecks in the current production process. He gave the example of the paint shop currently being limited to applying two-tone color schemes on 15% of orders, when demand is at more than 50% of orders.
Rolls-Royce Droptail (Arcadia)
For buyers with extra-deep pockets, Rolls-Royce also offers production of one-off and extremely low-volume cars, the latest being the four-car Droptail collection. The upgrades will also benefit this service, known as Rolls-Royce Coachbuild.
Rolls-Royce said the upgrades will also include the addition of more Private Offices, where customers can work with Rolls-Royce’s designers on the personalization of their cars. The process is by invite only.
Rolls-Royce said it delivered 5,712 vehicles in 2024, which was down from the record 6,032 vehicles in 2023 but still the third-highest figure on record. The automaker said the value of personalization increased 10% over the previous year to reach a new record, with West Asia being the biggest market based on average value per car.
