Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced an investment of more than $370 million (£300 million) to extend its manufacturing facility at Goodwood in the English town of Chichester.
This is designated as the next step in the BMW-owned company’s goal to create value for clients by handcrafting complex, personal and valuable luxury goods while providing a seamless client experience. The marque’s 2024 performance – a record year for bespoke and the third-best sales result in the company’s history – would confirm the trajectory of this approach.
“This represents our most substantial financial commitment to Goodwood since its opening in 2003 and a significant vote of confidence in the Rolls-Royce marque, securing our future here in the U.K.,” said Chris Brownridge, chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in a statement.
Increased production
The extension will create additional space for the increasingly complex and high-value bespoke and coachbuild projects sought by clients who define luxury as something deeply personal to them. It will also ready the manufacturing facility for the marque’s transition to an all-battery electric vehicle (BEV) future.
This $370 million-plus investment is the single largest injection of capital since the plant opened on Jan. 1, 2003 on land leased from the Duke of Richmond whose Goodwood House estate is next door.
Then, the automaker employed around 300 people and produced just one motor car a day.
Although the Goodwood manufacturing plant has undergone significant internal changes over the past 20 years, the building itself has remained largely unchanged, while staff numbers have since increased more than eightfold.
The marque now produces up to 28 motor cars a day.
More than 2,500 individuals are now employed at the “Home of Rolls-Royce” at Goodwood – including many highly skilled manufacturing and craft specialists – as well as around 7,500 people in the company’s wider U.K. supply chain.
In 2023, an independent study by the London School of Economics (LSE) demonstrated that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars contributes around $617 million to the United Kingdom economy every year, as a leading representative of ‘UK PLC.’
Planning permission to extend the Rolls-Royce plant was granted in 2024.
Fittingly, this milestone was achieved during the year in which Rolls-Royce celebrated the 120th anniversary of the first meeting between its cofounders, The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry (later Sir Henry) Royce, on May 4, 1904.
Site preparation and landscaping work is now underway.
Record year for bespoke
During 2024, the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective of specialist designers, engineers, and craftspeople undertook some of their most creatively daring and technically challenging commissions to date, per the carmaker.
“These projects incorporated innovative materials, features and craft techniques never seen before on a Rolls-Royce motor car, resulting in unique, emotionally resonant masterpieces which truly reflect each commissioning client’s interests and personality,” the company said.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ bespoke offering reached record levels in 2024.
Bespoke content value increased 10 percent, on average, per motor car year-on-year, reaching the highest level in the company’s history.
This record achievement is a testament to Rolls-Royce’s long-term strategic focus on bespoke, centered on creating value for clients through highly individualized products and experiences, and providing opportunities for meaningful personal expression.
Artisans crafted exquisite details including solid 18-carat gold sculptures, intricate embroideries comprising more than 869,500 stitches, delicate marquetry composed of more than 500 individually shaped pieces of wood, captivating mother-of-pearl artworks and holographic paint finishes, among other notable expressions of contemporary craft.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Extended received the most comprehensive bespoke commissions throughout the year, as clients explored this generous and detailed canvas for personal expression.
In its first full year of deliveries, clients immediately saw the bespoke potential of Spectre, with this model containing the second highest level of bespoke content per motor car in the marque’s 2024 portfolio.
The Middle East was the largest bespoke region by average value per motor car, closely followed by North America and Europe.
Rolls-Royce Coachbuild, the pinnacle of bespoke expression, unveiled Arcadia Droptail in 2024. It is one of four coachbuilt Droptail works, which followed the marque’s previous Coachbuild commissions ‘Sweptail’ and Boat Tail.
Focus on client experience
The marque’s commitment to bespoke is reflected in its Private Offices, which take the highly personalized experience of commissioning a Rolls-Royce at Goodwood directly to clients around the world.
In 2024, this global network of VIP spaces was expanded to New York and South Korean capital Seoul, which joined their counterparts in Dubai and Shanghai.
Inspired by the original Private Office in Goodwood, these creative hubs are available by invitation, each designed to inspire creativity and close collaboration between clients and a dedicated designer and client experience manager based in the region.
“This unique experience is highly appreciated by clients, with Private Office commissions typically being 25 percent higher in value due to the opportunity to explore the full extent of Rolls-Royce’s bespoke capabilities,” the company said.
Rolls-Royce’s dealer partners around the world also continued to invest in the marque’s updated visual identity and showroom concept, which provides a social, creatively engaging environment in which clients can relax and find inspiration for their bespoke commission.
The Rolls-Royce invitation-only members’ app, Whispers, continued to grow in 2024, with a 55 percent uplift in membership.
In this exclusive digital members’ club, clients can network with each other and gain access to exclusive Rolls-Royce insights about the marque and the wider luxury world.
Whispers also enables direct client contact with senior Rolls-Royce Motor Cars executives and those who own a Goodwood-era Rolls-Royce, fostering a particularly close bond between the marque and its clients.
Model sales picture
Rolls-Royce introduced a record four new models in 2024: Cullinan Series II and Ghost Series II, together with the respective Black Badge models.
These launches, together with sustained demand for all Rolls-Royce products, contributed to global sales of 5,712 vehicles in 2024 – a 5 percent drop from 6,032 in 2023 but the third-highest annual total ever achieved and in line with the marque’s forecasts and expectations, given the changeover to the new models.
2024 was also the first full year of sales for Rolls-Royce Spectre, which proved even more popular than expected.
Spectre was the most requested Rolls-Royce model in Europe last year and the second most demanded globally, with clients around the world confirming it amplifies the attributes for which the marque is most renowned: silence, ‘waftability’ and the unique ‘magic-carpet ride’ experience.
Taking all regions into consideration, the most requested Rolls-Royce models in 2024 were Cullinan, Spectre, and then Ghost.
Phantom, the marque’s flagship, retained its status as the ultimate and rarest Rolls-Royce. Phantom will celebrate its centenary in 2025.
In 2024, North America was Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ largest sales region, measured by the number of motor cars handed over to clients.
Several regions, including the Middle East and Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific, achieved record sales.
In China, the marque responded to sustained demand for bespoke from its dealer partners, reflecting a continuous increase in younger clientele engaging with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and its focus on a highly personalized experience.
This is most clearly evidenced at the Private Office in Shanghai, which opened in 2023, demonstrating the marque’s ongoing attention to the region.
In 2024, Rolls-Royce also benefited from smaller but fast-growing markets, including Malaysia, Thailand and the Netherlands.
The UAE, Germany and Japan, all large and well-established markets for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, were among a number of countries that achieved record sales in 2024. They also experienced a significant uplift in demand for bespoke features, with some of the most ambitious commissions originating from these markets.
ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS has equally ambitious plans for 2025 with the unveiling of its next electric motor car.
“2024’s record bespoke results demonstrate our clients are increasingly drawn to the marque to create ever more ambitious and valuable motor cars, thereby enjoying the exceptional and highly personalized experience that Rolls-Royce ownership unlocks,” Mr. Brownridge said in a statement. “This underscores our commitment to creating value for our clients and those with a stake in our business.”
Hear Gerry Spahn, head of communications for the Americas at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, at Luxury Roundtable's Luxury Outlook Summit 2025 in New York on Jan. 15. He will discuss: