Rolls Royce declares 2018 as the best year of sales yet

British luxury car maker Rolls-Royce is celebrating its best year of sales in the company’s 115-year history. 

A total of 4,107 units were sold in 50 countries throughout 2018, with profit driven by the revamped Phantom flagship, and bolstered by the Dawn and Wraith coupé models. 

The Cullinan SUV is proving a valuable asset to the brand, with several units delivered to customers before the end of 2018, and an order book stretching into the second half of this year. 

The USA remains the company’s largest market, with 30 percent of all sales, while 40 percent is divided equally between China and Europe. The Middle East and Asia Pacific each took a 15 percent share.

The British brand benefitted from 10 percent growth in its home market as well, with unprecedented levels of success in areas outside London. The company’s Manchester dealership relocated from Knutsford to a new facility elsewhere in Cheshire at the beginning of the year, while a newly-opened showroom in Leeds aims to profit from a burgeoning entrepreneurial market in the North. 

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO, attributed the sales success to the brand’s deep focus “on each and every one of [its] customers and delivering on their demanding expectations.”

2018 was the first full year of operation for the company’s Goodwood-based single-line manufacturing facility, which proved successful in helping Rolls-Royce to produce a record number of bespoke customer-commissioned models. 

With 200 new employees and a record intake into the company’s apprenticeship programme, 2018 also marked the first time Rolls-Royce’s workforce exceeded 2000.

Also read: A long-term vision for the European automotive industry