Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has achieved the highest annual sales in the marque’s 115-year history, with 4,107 cars delivered to customers in over 50 countries around the world in 2018.
In Australia, 40 Rolls-Royce cars were sold and in the Asia Pacific sales represented around 10% of the company’s overall business, and it is growing. Japan and Korea are the largest markets outside of China, with Korea experiencing stellar growth in 2018 – up 40%. The brand and Rolls-Royce bespoke is being embraced here by both an established clientele and a new, younger set of affluent enthusiasts who have not considered a Rolls-Royce before.
In a year of multiple records, the world’s foremost Luxury House also enjoyed unprecedented demand for its Bespoke creations, and launched the new Cullinan – the Rolls-Royce of SUVs – to great international acclaim.
“We are quietly optimistic about 2019 when customers will begin to receive Cullinan, a motor car which perfectly fits the many lifestyles of our successful Australians,” said Ian Grant, Regional Sales Manager (Asia Pacific).
The Americas remained the company’s largest market in 2018. Sales also grew across all regions during the year with buoyant customer demand across the model range. Phantom was a major growth driver, flanked by the very contemporary and seductive Wraith and Dawn models.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars with the Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Reflecting on the company’s performance for the year, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “2018 was a most successful, record-breaking year for Rolls-Royce. We have seen growth in all our regions around the world. At Rolls-Royce we are deeply focused on each and every one of our customers and are delivering on their demanding expectations. The Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood is acknowledged and celebrated as a global centre of luxury manufacturing excellence, where our skilled, dedicated team create the world’s finest, most sought-after luxury products. We set a formidable mark in 2018: I am confident it will prove the spur to even greater success in 2019.”
To meet growing worldwide demand for its products, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars employed 200 new associates, mainly in skilled manufacturing roles, during 2018. These new appointments mean the total workforce at the Home of Rolls-Royce now exceeds 2,000 people for the first time since the plant opened in 2003.
The year also saw a record intake of 23 new entrants to the company’s highly successful Apprenticeship Programme. Since its launch in 2006, more than 100 candidates have completed the remarkable transition from total beginner to confident, highly-skilled specialist: most are still with the company, many in senior technical and supervisory roles.
In 2018, Rolls-Royce’s specialist craftspeople delivered some of the most ambitious customer commissions ever undertaken at Goodwood, taking Bespoke design, engineering, materials and methods to new heights of technical and aesthetic brilliance.
This included the Rolls-Royce Viewing Suite (pictured above), which is automatically deployed at the touch of a button. Two rear-facing, beautifully contemporary, fine leather chairs and a cocktail table gracefully emerge from within the rear compartment – creating a luxurious viewing platform from which to take in the surroundings.
The freedom to choose, create and commission beautiful objects is one of life’s great pleasures and Rolls-Royce is, by far, the world’s leading manufacturer in this regard. Through its Bespoke capabilities, Rolls-Royce offers customers near-limitless opportunities to bring their own personal vision to their motor car, reinforcing the marque’s position as the world’s leading Luxury House.
The Rolls-Royce Dawn… 
Scorpion Edition.
For more information on the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars model range, please visit you preferred Rolls-Royce dealer.
Photographs by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.