Covid victims boosted Rolls-Royce’s record sales, says CEO

It is not surprising that the car market felt the consequences of this crisis and the semiconductor crisis in 2021. However, luxury brands such as Porsche and now Rolls-Royce, apparently were not affected as much as other more famous ones.

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The British brand led by BMW sold a total of 5,586 cars, the most in its 117-year history. It may seem small, but for Rolls-Royce the number is very telling, as its products are luxurious and belong to a restricted niche of buyers.

But what made millionaires use their wealth to buy “the best cars in the world”? For Torsten Müller-Ötvös, it will be an epiphany caused by the large number of victims of COVID-19.“Many have witnessed people in their community die from Covid and it has made them think that life can be short and that it is better to live now instead of postponing it until a later date. That helped Rolls-Royce,” explained the CEO.

To support Müller-Ötvös’ theory, the average age of Rolls-Royce customers has been falling in recent years. According to the CEO, today he is 43 years old, before the customers are 56.

Not only the “fear of death”, but also the restrictions imposed by the epidemic contributed to the growth of Rolls-Royce. For CEO, without being able to travel or use other luxury services, rich people had to find a way to spend their wealth. Among the remaining alternatives are cars.

Whatever the reason, the brand claims that growth has occurred on all continents, which is unusual. China and America each accounted for 30% of sales, while Europe added up to 20% and the Middle East 10%, according to Müller-Ötvös. He also claims that South Korea and Russia had very good sales.

Talking about the models, the CEO did not give exact figures, but he said that the sales leader was the Rolls-Royce Phantom and the Cullinan SUV accounted for 30% of sales in 2021. He also said that no other car manufacturer sold cars over 250,000 euros. , around R$ 1.5 million.

The impact of Brexit

If on the one hand the crisis increased the sales of Rolls-Royce, on the other hand there was Brexit. According to the CEO, the UK’s departure from the European Union “hasn’t made life any easier for the company”.

The restrictions on labor migration and the administrative burden of exporting were, according to Müller-Ötvös, “unnecessary complications”. It should be noted that 90% of the cars produced by Rolls-Royce are exported outside the UK.

To know the real impact of Brexit, it is important to wait until the company discloses its account balance. The goal is to surpass the 61 million euros that the company made in 2020, which does not seem difficult considering the statements of the CEO.

In the near future, Rolls-Royce will launch its first EV, Spectre, in 2023. Full electrification of the brand is expected to happen in 2030.

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