Rolls-Royce to invest £300m in expanding Goodwood factory for luxury upgrades

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has said it will invest £300m in expanding its Goodwood factory in West Sussex to meet the growing demand for bespoke upgrades, after the luxury carmaker recorded its third-highest annual sales in 2024.

- Isaaq Tomkins, Jasper Jolly

The investment will extend the luxury carmaker's manufacturing facility as it gradually moves away from V12 petrol engines to battery electric vehicles, as well as increasing its capacity to fulfil the whims of some of the world's richest people.

The company is enjoying a boom in demand for one-of-a-kind variations required by super-wealthy clients willing to spend more than £500,000 on average on a single car.

Those embellishments range from solid gold bonnet sculptures or mother-of-pearl artworks, to holographic paint finishes and LED lights in the ceiling that mimic the stars on a particular date: one client last year asked for their dog's birthday.

Rolls-Royce, owned by Germany's BMW since 2003, said it sold 5,712 cars last year, although sales were down 5% compared with the 6,032 sold in 2023, its highest ever.

Chris Brownridge, Rolls-Royce's chief executive since late 2023, said it was "inevitable over time there may be some additional jobs" as the company sought to meet customers' demands.

"Rolls-Royce is in a very strong position," despite slightly lower demand in China, Brownridge said in an interview at a luxury hotel in London.