A Daring Evolution

THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE ROLLS-ROYCE CUSTOMER IS YOUNGER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK. CEO TORSTEN MÜLLER- ÖTVÖS SHARES HOW HE’S MAKING BOLD MOVES TO REJUVENATE THE BRAND SO IT REMAINS AS RELEVANT AND DESIRABLE AS EVER.

- Skye Hoklas

There aren’t many brands with an allure quite like Rolls-Royce, the well-known luxury marque that’s shrouded in mystery and only accessible to an elite few. It has stood the test of time for more than 114 years and ridden the ebb and flow of the marketplace with apparent ease. But even heritage brands need to be revitalized every now and then and, luckily for Rolls-Royce, there’s one man who’s willing to take it to bold new places.

CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös is something of a risk-taker. He’s adamant that Rolls-Royce can’t rest on its laurels if it wants to remain successful in the future. “You need to be reinventing yourself regularly,” he explains. “If you’re not prepared to do that, you’re gone, finished. You need to be prepared to learn daily and to think differently and to say, ‘Maybe this was right yesterday, but maybe it isn’t right tomorrow.’

He’s the type of leader who practices what he preaches, too. Since being appointed to the position in April 2010, he has led Rolls-Royce on an exciting – and often risky – rejuvenation, and it’s been paying dividends. “We have grown massively over the past few years in comparison to where we used to be,” he shares. “We have quadrupled in volume.”

The biggest focus of this rejuvenation has been recognizing and capitalizing on, a significant demographic change within its core consumer. Over the past decade, the average age of the Rolls-Royce buyer has dropped considerably, becoming an important indicator of the direction the company needs to take. “When I joined Rolls-Royce the average age of a client was 56, now that has dropped down to 43. It’s a remarkable development,” Torsten says. “With this new average it means that for everyone who is 60 years old, there is at least one person who is 30.