MONTEREY, California – When you think of Monterey Car Week and the Pebble Beach Concours, the name Rolls-Royce Motorcars comes to mind. The 120-year-old British automaker is synonymous with extreme luxury and sophistication.
Rolls-Royce (BMWYY) last week made its presence felt in Monterey, where each year a large proportion of the company’s customers turn up to see new cars, meet other car lovers and, as Europeans like to say, enjoy life.
It was also an opportunity for me to talk to Rolls-Royce’s experienced CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, whose vision has led Rolls-Royce back to its preeminence over the past 13 years.
Suffice it to say that Müller-Ötvös and Rolls-Royce conquer the top of the market and have another record year behind them. We met him during the launch of a very special coachbuild car, the Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail, in Pebble Beach, California.
Edited excerpts of the interview:
Torsten Mueller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars poses for a photo at The Quail, a motorsports meetup on August 18, 2023 in Carmel, California. (Matt Jelonek/Getty Images)
Q: You’ve known Rolls-Royce for many years and I always tend to ask you these questions whenever I see you because I want to get your perspective on the luxury consumer. Rolls-Royce can be seen as a leading indicator with their spending behavior – what do you see from them these days?
A: What we’re seeing right now is that the world is a bit different than it was a year ago, which isn’t a huge surprise. And I would also say that those very exuberant demand patterns for luxury goods that we’ve all seen right after the pandemic are kind of coming to an end and normalizing.
So I would say that a year ago the market was pretty overheated. In the meantime, a kind of normality has returned, and we see that worldwide. This applies not only to the USA, but also to Europe and Asia. You see that in China; There [are] We are concerned about the country’s economic development and that is a concern for some of our customers.
From our customers’ perspective, it’s never “Oh, me [no] “I don’t have any more money to buy a brand new Rolls-Royce”, it’s more about the mood and I’ve always said that we at Rolls-Royce Motorcars are not immune to recessionary tendencies either.
The story goes on
So mood is what matters most when buying a Rolls-Royce, and if that’s affected in any way by the economic downturn, then we’ll see that. But on the other hand, you never normally see the whole world filling up ; You can see that some markets are going up, others are going down, and because we’re so well distributed around the world, we’re able to offset those developments.
Q: We are of course here at Monterey Car Week where Rolls-Royce is introducing a limited edition special model, the Rose Noir Droptail, a one off commissioned work. One of possibly four orders that Rolls-Royce awards. What is the story behind this car?
We’re looking at a Coachbuild automobile [Coachbuild is Rolls-Royce’s service to select clients where they can build an “entirely original” vehicle]. I would describe body construction as the absolute highlight, since it is only possible by invitation. We design exactly what [the customers] wanted to have.
The Rolls-Royce “La Rose Noire” Droptail Commission (Source: Pras Subramanian)
The car is a celebration for one [customer’s] Anniversary, the customers have been married for 30 years as of this week, and we [are] Delivery of the finished project here. And this project is all in the details, a very romantic story, and you can see those details in the rose itself. The [Black Baccara] The rose, for example, is a rose that the lady received as a gift from her husband many years ago, and this symbol of love, this rose, is reflected in the car.
Q: Your team says the Rose Noire Droptail features over 1000 pieces of wood put together like a jigsaw puzzle in the cabin, custom body exterior and interior, custom platform and V-12 engine, for Rolls-Royce of course. We’re also hearing that this car could cost around $25 million. Are we there in the stadium?
A: I’d say that’s a pretty good judgment – that’s the benchmark.
It took us almost five years to develop this car together with the customer. The customer spends quite a bit of time with us as they sign off on each individual development phase. They were there when we sculpted the clay for the car, they even got to sculpt it themselves… And it all… resulted in, I have to say, one of the most wonderful customer journeys I’ve ever had. I have it in mine throughout my time here at Rolls-Royce Motorcars.
The Rolls-Royce “La Rose Noire” droptail special edition Audemars Piguet watch (Source: Pras Subramanian)
Q: Pebble Beach and Monterey Car Week is a great opportunity for Rolls-Royce to talk to customers and in many ways sell more cars. But I spoke to one of your biggest dealers, Tom O’Gara of O’Gara Coach, and he told me for the luxury consumer that he doesn’t care how many cars he sells. What he sells are experiences, and that’s what keeps customers coming back.
A: I mean, it’s all about experience. I would say even if we hadn’t considered that years ago – with Rolls-Royce Bespoke and our investment in Goodwood [Rolls-Royce’s factory]Investment in our private offices [where clients can order bespoke cars] … interact with customers, invite them to breathtaking events and celebrate life together and the luxury life with them – we wouldn’t sell cars anymore because it’s not a car, it’s a luxury good.
With luxury goods you also have to offer experience. I think what you said is exactly what we offer and at Rolls-Royce no one buys “off the shelf”. When you buy a Rolls Royce you want to do something very special.
That’s why our saying goes: “We supply the canvas and the customer draws his masterpiece together with our designers”.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
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