Rolls-Royce Motor Cars enjoyed a highly successful year in 2023, with strong sales and demand for its products in markets worldwide, and Bespoke commissions at record levels.
The company’s strong performance was once again underpinned by the uniqueness and diversity of its offer, particularly in respect of Bespoke personalisation and the marque’s unrivalled ability to meet and exceed clients’ ever-expanding expectations. The ongoing success and growth of the marque’s Bespoke capabilities – supported by the continuing expansion of the marque’s international Private Office network – resulted in more and higher value Bespoke commissions than ever before. Global sales of 6,032 motor cars were in line with internal expectations and Rolls-Royce’s status as an international luxury house, rather than a volume-driven manufacturer. All Rolls-Royce motor cars are hand-built at the marque’s home in Goodwood, UK and each one has elements of Bespoke.
While the hugely popular Wraith and Dawn models ceased production as planned in 2023, the year was most notable for the start of production and sales of Rolls-Royce Spectre, with the very first client deliveries taking place in the autumn. Following its triumphant public reveal in October 2022, the first all-electric Rolls-Royce in history has attracted enormous interest, particularly among younger clients; this demand has translated into orders extending into 2025, laying a firm foundation for the marque’s bold, all-electric future.
The company’s long-term focus on Bespoke, and the growing ambition of client commissions, is reflected in the ever-increasing scope and sophistication of Rolls-Royce’s design, technology, engineering and craftsmanship. During 2023, the company announced substantial new investment in the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood to enhance capacity and capabilities for Bespoke and to support the growth of Coachbuild. To meet clients’ growing demand for increasingly detailed and extensive Bespoke commissions, Rolls-Royce expanded its Private Office network further: following Dubai, which opened in 2022, Shanghai opened in autumn 2023 and the marque confirmed its plans to open Private Offices in Seoul and North America in 2024. The global Rolls-Royce Private Office network enables a new level of client engagement with the marque and is already delivering a significant uplift in Bespoke demand.
Rolls-Royce enjoyed a highly successful year in 2023, with strong sales and demand for its products in markets worldwide.
Every motor car hand-built at the Home of Rolls-Royce includes some element of Bespoke, the company’s unique programme offering personalisation possibilities which are limited only by the client’s imagination. In 2023, Bespoke commissions reached new record levels by both value and number; the technical innovations required to deliver specific projects saw Rolls-Royce file a number of new patents during the year. In 2023, more Rolls-Royce motor cars were delivered to clients around the world than in any other year in the marque’s 119-year history.
To mark 20 years of production at Goodwood, Rolls-Royce commissioned an independent study into the marque’s economic impact, which calculated its total contribution to the UK economy at over £4 billion since 2003, and now over £500 million annually. The company created 180 new jobs at its Global Centre of Luxury Manufacturing Excellence in 2023, while more than 130 people joined the company’s Future Talent programme in Apprenticeship, Internship or Graduate Placement positions.
The marque also announced plans for significant new investment to modernise and upgrade its manufacturing facilities to enhance its Bespoke and Coachbuild capabilities and support production of its future all-electric product portfolio.
In 2023, Rolls-Royce further enhanced its industry-leading experiential luxury capabilities – a significant growth area within the luxury sector. The marque’s successful and celebrated global Private Office network, which offers clients a highly personalised commissioning and ownership experience, expanded to Shanghai in 2023. This unique programme, which began with Private Office Dubai in July 2022 – the first Private Office outside the company’s home at Goodwood, UK – offers clients direct access to Rolls-Royce’s own designers and engineers. The impact of these new international Private Offices has already been significant, with a marked increase in the number and complexity of Bespoke commissions. This programme will be extended with two new international locations in 2024.
In addition to this, the marque’s Whispers app witnessed significant increases in engagement. Reserved exclusively for Goodwood-era Rolls-Royce clients, the digital members’ club enables users to benefit from exclusive products and experiences selected from the marque’s wider network within the luxury industry, further establishing the brand as a focal point within the lives of owners.
BESPOKE: FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
Rolls-Royce Bespoke offers every client the opportunity to express their personality through their motor car – an unparalleled experience that was enjoyed by all clients in 2023. It is this possibility to personalise any and every aspect of their motor car, in partnership with design and engineering specialists at the Home of Rolls-Royce, that is driving demand for Rolls-Royce products among its patrons worldwide. In 2023, Bespoke commissions reached new record levels by both number and value, with many of the most creatively ambitious and technically challenging originating in the Middle East.
Bespoke projects completed in 2023 included many ‘firsts’ for the marque that were also technical innovations. These included the scent-release mechanism concealed in the headrests of Phantom Syntopia, which incorporated technology originally developed for medical applications, while many Bespoke paint finishes achieved in 2023 required entirely new materials, techniques and formulations to achieve.
The year’s commissions also created new opportunities in the use of rare and beautiful materials and intricate craft techniques. These included: exquisite mother-of-pearl inlays for ‘The Pearl Cullinan’; hand-perforated leather seats for Black Badge Cullinan Blue Shadow; Starlight Headliners incorporating mesmerising celestial animations for Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis; and exquisite hand-painted Gallery artworks for Phantom ‘Inspired by Cinque Terre’.
