Rolls-Royce Restarts Production on Day of Its 116th Anniversary

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars records another chapter in its long story today. It was on May 4 in 1904 that The Hon Charles Rolls first met Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, an encounter after which the motor car, and the world of luxury, would never be the same again. It is with a fitting sense of historical symmetry that production resumes at the Home of Rolls-Royce on the anniversary of Rolls first declaring of Royce, “I have met the greatest engineer in the World”.

Together, Rolls and Royce shared a vision to make the future of motoring extraordinary. Henry Royce, an engineer, had a desire for perfection and an innate work ethic that later became the pillar of Rolls-Royce philosophy; “Take the best that exists and make it better.” Charles Rolls, an aristocrat, was an accomplished motorist, experienced in selling imported foreign motor cars. His business partner, Claude Johnson, stepped into the role of Managing Director of Rolls and Royce’s venture and expanded the fledgling company’s reputation.

The company they founded has faced extraordinary challenges and difficulties throughout its 116 year history. Though still in its infancy, Rolls-Royce endured in 1918 when the greatest pandemic of the 20th Century, Spanish Flu, swept the world. A decade later, it again stood firm when the Great Depression laid waste to the global economy. Over the years that followed, Rolls Royce has withstood the shocks of economic and political crises at home and overseas, embodying calm and constancy in a tumultuous, uncertain world.

In its more recent history, the company weathered the financial crash of 2008 and came out the other side more resilient and determined than ever. The marque has always risen to every challenge with ingenuity, commitment, courage and solidarity, so while COVID-19 is possibly the biggest test Rolls-Royce has ever faced, it’s certainly not the first.

For the current generation of the Rolls-Royce family, working from home has been a new experience. For Sir Henry Royce, however, it was entirely normal. Indeed, some of his most influential designs were produced in the private studio he maintained at his home–Elmstead–at West Wittering, just eight miles (12.8 kilometres) from the present-day manufacturing plant and global Head Office.

Royce clearly found inspiration and creative energy in the peace, quiet and solitude that working away from the bustle of the office and factory provided. Famously, while walking on the nearby beach one day, he sketched the initial design for the R-series aero engine in the sand with his walking-stick. A later development of that design, the Merlin, would earn everlasting acclaim as the engine which powered the legendary Supermarine Spitfire.

Royce’s home studio was also the birthplace of another, perhaps less storied engine that nevertheless occupies an important place in the annals of aviation achievement. In 1919, his Eagle VIII provided the power for the first-ever transatlantic flight, from St John’s, Newfoundland to County Galway in Ireland, by British adventurers Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Brown. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars commemorated the centenary of their astonishing feat, and the engine that made it possible, in the spectacular Wraith Eagle VIII Collection Car, limited to just 50 examples, released in 2019.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, “We are living through historic times. Our primary focus is, of course, on safely resuming production at The Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex; but in marking this amazing anniversary, we are taking a moment to reflect on what 116 years have taught us.”

He added, “As a company, we can draw strength from the knowledge that although Rolls-Royce has faced uncertainty many times over the years, it has emerged more resilient and confident, with its fundamental principles unaltered. Our present challenges may be unprecedented, but as we look to the future, I am confident there is no company in the world better prepared to overcome them.”

Rolls-Royce Sees Another Kind of Record Production

Although car manufacturing has been temporarily suspended, production of another unique, distinctly British treasure is running at record levels at the Home of Rolls-Royce: the world’s most exclusive honey.

In their third full season of production, the dedicated 250,000-strong workforce in the company’s apiary are set, once again, to exceed their 2020 volume targets for the ‘Rolls-Royce of Honey’. Having come through the winter in excellent health, Rolls-Royce’s English Honey Bees are currently emerging from their hives and foraging on the half-a-million trees, shrubs and wildflowers flourishing across the 42-acre (17 hectares) Rolls‑Royce site, plus the eight acres of sedum plants growing on the manufacturing plant’s ‘living roof’ – the largest of its kind in the U.K. The more adventurous bees make sorties into the surrounding Goodwood Estate, whose 12,000 acres (4,856 hectares) of West Sussex countryside are among the glories of the South Downs National Park.

Established in 2017, the Goodwood Apiary comprises six traditional, English-crafted, wooden beehives, each bearing a polished stainless steel nameplate handcrafted in the company’s Bespoke Workshop. Five are named after cars in the Rolls-Royce product family – ‘Phantom’, ‘Wraith’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Dawn’ and ‘Cullinan’ – while the sixth, the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’, celebrates the marque’s illustrious mascot.

Like the 2,000 employees at the Home of Rolls-Royce, the bees are responsible for producing a rare and desirable product. At the end of each season, ‘The Rolls-Royce of Honey’ is meticulously hand‑processed by local specialists and served to guests of the marque, including customers commissioning their motor cars in the company’s Atelier suite.

The Apiary project is Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ response to the real and present threat facing the Honey Bee population. Honey Bees are the principal pollinators of numerous tree and plant species, including many of the fruit and vegetable crops that are crucial to the local agricultural economy around the Home of Rolls-Royce. However, a shortage of suitable forage, primarily caused by habitat loss, has put their numbers under great and growing pressure in recent years.

Rolls-Royce Will Transform Your Kids' Drawings Into a Piece of Art

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a brand that encourages the pursuit of dreams, and now a new generation of aspiring designers are being encouraged to bring their automotive dreams to life through a special ‘Young Designer Competition’.

Launched to provide parents and children with a welcome distraction during the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, Rolls-Royce is calling on aspiring designers up to the age of 16 to design their dream Rolls-Royce of the future. The competition enables designers of the future to let their imaginations and creativity run free, even while they remain bound to their homes.

Rolls-Royce designs and builds the world’s most extraordinary cars, each a unique expression of the owner’s personality, imagination, and creativity. From paint to embroidery, Starlight Headliner to art and design installations, anything is possible. Aspiring designers entering the challenge can now draw on their own creativity and desires to imagine the design of their very own super-luxury car.

The new competition is an extension of that which is run each year at the Rolls-Royce employees’ Family Day Celebration, held at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England. This eagerly anticipated activity delights creative young minds, as well as proud parents and grandparents. Rolls-Royce is opening up the competition to a worldwide audience to: stimulate design talent; inspire greatness; and provide a welcome distraction from self-isolation and social-distancing measures being adopted by many countries around the globe.

The marque’s Design team will judge all entries and select an overall winner, who will receive a rendered illustration of their design—a true once-in-a-lifetime, money-can’t-buy prize—as well as a chauffeur-driven journey in a Rolls-Royce Phantom for their first day back to school, with their best friend. Runners-up will receive a hand-signed certificate from Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Young designers can share their innovative designs for a future Rolls-Royce through this website.

Rolls-Royce Makes an App That's a Mix Between Facebook and Frontrow

Open-minded ka ba? Well, if you’re a Rolls-Royce owner, you can now tap into a very exclusive, very small clientele of multi-millionaires and billionaires to invest in your business. This is one of the things you can do in one of the most elite digital clubs in the world: Whispers.

While the name itself is reminiscent of a brand of feminine napkins, the digital platform allows new (sorry, pre-owned buyers, you’re not included) Rolls-Royce owners from the U.S., Middle East, and Europe (for now) to share ideas and networks, social contacts, and even business opportunities not just with Rolls-Royce Motor Car themselves, but with each other.

So yes, it’s sort of a like a Facebook minus, we presume, trolls and the jeje.

The platform, developed over two years ago was done under a cloak of secrecy—perhaps because these guys hold the nuclear launch codes or the cure to cancer or something. Now though, it’s out of the testing phase and available to Rolls-Royce owners in the three markets mentioned.

Aside from “privately communing with some of the world’s greatest minds,” the app connects owners to individuals or enterprises that can, among other things, help them build their own racetrack, book a private performance with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, or even smuggle you out of a musical instrument case (we kid you Carlos Ghosn, we kid). It can give owners access to events such as the Grammys, the Academy Awards, and the like.

The app itself is available for both iOS and Android, but log-in credentials will only given if you happen to purchase a Phantom, Ghost, Wraith, or Cullinan.

Rolls-Royce Posts Record Growth in 2019

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars hit a historic annual sales record last year with deliveries rising 25 percent globally compared to 2018. A total of 5,152 cars were delivered in over 50 countries around the world.

Sales grew across all regions during the year, driven by strong customer demand for all Rolls-Royce models. The company reported significant sales growth in every one of its key global markets. North America retained top status (around a third of global sales) followed by China and Europe (including UK). Individual countries that achieved record sales results included Russia, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Qatar, and Korea.

In 2019, Rolls-Royce motor cars were sold in more than 50 countries worldwide through a global network of 135 dealerships. As part of its commitment to long-term sustainable growth, Rolls Royce announced two new dealerships during 2019: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Brisbane and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Shanghai Pudong.

The Phantom retains its rightful place as the company’s pinnacle product, with Dawn and Wraith continuing to dominate their respective sectors; strong demand was experienced for all three models during the year. The Cullinan, the marque’s new SUV, made history having the largest advance order book and fastest post launch sales growth of any Rolls-Royce model in history.

Last year marked the end of the Ghost after 11 years of uninterrupted commercial and critical success. Since its launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009, it became the most popular Rolls-Royce model of the Goodwood era, attracting younger, often self-made entrepreneurial customers to the Rolls-Royce brand. An extended wheelbase version was introduced in 2011 and an updated Ghost Series II was unveiled in Geneva in 2014.

Its successor is due for launch in mid-2020 after five years in development. With market availability from the fourth quarter, the successor will elevate the Ghost name, and the company itself, to new heights of excellence and ambition in design, engineering, materials, and driving dynamics.