The Goodwood plant in the U.K. owned by Rolls-Royce has secured regulatory approval for expanding its premises, with plans to commence the construction of new extensions shortly.
Contrary to increasing the production capacity beyond the 6,032 vehicles achieved in 2023, the expansion aims to enhance the customization options available, as revealed by the new CEO of Rolls-Royce, Chris Brownridge, in an interview with Autocar published on Wednesday.
Stating, “Our approach going forward is not about boosting production levels,” he emphasized, “but rather about enriching the unique features of the cars, as this is what makes the experience truly extraordinary for our clientele.”
Brownridge, who assumed the leadership role after the long-serving chief Torsten Müller-Ötvös departed late last year, mentioned that the existing plant was established at a time when Rolls-Royce was delivering fewer than 1,500 vehicles annually.
Rolls-Royce Droptail (Amethyst)
With the volumes having quadrupled since then, the demand for customization has surged to cover all orders. Rolls-Royce has also ventured into producing unique and extremely limited edition cars, such as the recent four-car Droptail collection.
According to Brownridge, the expansion of the plant will help alleviate certain bottlenecks in the current manufacturing process. For instance, the paint shop is currently restricted to accommodating two-tone color combinations for only 15% of the orders despite the demand surpassing 50%.
Prior to Brownridge, the helm of Rolls-Royce was held by his predecessor for a tenure of 14 years. However, Brownridge brings ample industry experience to the role, having previously overseen operations at BMW in the U.K. and holding various positions within the BMW Group over the past three decades.
Rolls-Royce is not the sole BMW Group brand undergoing leadership changes. Mini recently announced that Stefan Richmann will succeed Stefanie Wurst as its chief on August 1. Wurst’s term lasted only two years, as she mentioned in a LinkedIn post that she is set to embark on a new journey.
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