Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: Rolls Royce unveiling Project Nightingale, its first coach build collection model,
Speaker 2: at least in the past few decades, an ultra limited
Speaker 2: car offered to just one hundred clients worldwide. Bloomberg's Hannah
Speaker 2: Elliott from Bloomberg Pursuits Rights, Rolls Royce is selling something
Speaker 2: much more ephemeral, true exclusivity as the company pushes into
Speaker 2: hyper luxury and customization. Joining us now as the CEO,
Speaker 2: Chris Brownridge. So, Chris, this is pretty exciting. I got
Speaker 2: a sneak preview I will say of what it looks
Speaker 2: like just on someone's laptop, But it is a massive
Speaker 2: vehicle and it has a massive price tag to match.
Speaker 1: Of course, Project Nightingale is the first of our commission
Speaker 1: collection motor cars, and what that means is it's a
Speaker 1: motor car where our clients have had an extraordinary behind
Speaker 1: the scenes experience. But also the motor car they get
Speaker 1: is extravagant, extraordinary and will be extremely rare. So it's
Speaker 1: a very very special project for Rolls Royce Motocrs.
Speaker 3: Matt in the latter part of that mentioned the price tag.
Speaker 3: What is the value of one of these things.
Speaker 1: Well, we never talk about money, it's rude, But just
Speaker 1: to give you an indication if you were looking at it,
Speaker 1: sits somewhere between our one of one coach Bill motor
Speaker 1: cars and our very complex private commissions.
Speaker 3: I mean, I got to say, like probably fair to
Speaker 3: say this is the most expensive ev ever, right at
Speaker 3: least is that the ballpark we're talking about.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't want to comment any further on that.
Speaker 2: Right now we're talking about three to five million dollars.
Speaker 2: Probably I would guess closer to the higher end of
Speaker 2: that range. Hannah Elliott wrote a fantastic piece on it,
Speaker 2: and she shows in her story the Rolls Royce seventeen
Speaker 2: ex which inspired the shape of the new car. So,
Speaker 2: coll who's buying these things? Can you give us any names?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 1: The wonderful thing is that the client base for this
Speaker 1: motor car were involved in the project two years ago,
Speaker 1: so they've been on the inner circle. And the great
Speaker 1: news is this is the first time that Rolls Royce
Speaker 1: Motor Cars will deliver a coach built motor car into
Speaker 1: the United States. In fact, about a third of the
Speaker 1: allocation of motor cars that will Bill will come to
Speaker 1: this country.
Speaker 2: Is this I mean, are you moving away from being
Speaker 2: a car maker and turning into a luxury experience provider
Speaker 2: or a marketer of exclusivity. I mean it seems like
Speaker 2: it's customization built on a fixed chassis.
Speaker 1: Well, Rolls Royce is perfectly placed today to really take
Speaker 1: advantage of the shifting trend in luxury where it's all
Speaker 1: about the experience as well as what is actually created.
Speaker 1: And so every Rolls Royce that we build today is
Speaker 1: for a client because they've requested it, and Coach Built
Speaker 1: allows us to show our potential clients the possibilities of
Speaker 1: their Rolls Royce Coachbuild Collection is a very important project
Speaker 1: for us. It's a permanent part of our product offer.
Speaker 3: Now, what is the geographical spread of clients for this car?
Speaker 1: Look like it is literally all over the world, and
Speaker 1: that's the wonderful thing. So these are motor cars that
Speaker 1: will be seen. We have clients in Asia, we have
Speaker 1: clients in Europe, we have clients in America. So of
Speaker 1: course Project Nightingale will be seen and they will be driven.
Speaker 1: Many of the clients who I know are looking forward
Speaker 1: to taking delivery of their motor car have told me
Speaker 1: that they will use it every day.
Speaker 2: What are you learning at Rolls Royce that you can
Speaker 2: pass on to Oliver Tips and your parent company BMW.
Speaker 2: I was down in your private office, for example, and
Speaker 2: I saw the level of customization that's possible, The sort
Speaker 2: of understated luxury of the place, the elegance of it
Speaker 2: really blew me away. But it strikes me that you're
Speaker 2: not just a halo brand for BMW, but you also
Speaker 2: are kind of a luxury laboratory for them.
Speaker 1: Rolls Royce is a true house of luxury. Everything we
Speaker 1: produce is because the clients asked us to produce it.
Speaker 1: But what we've seen in the last few years is
Speaker 1: a cli growth in demand for more complex commissions. Since
Speaker 1: we've opened the private office here in New York, the
Speaker 1: level of demand for those commissions has increased dramatically, and
Speaker 1: we're seeing that at all parts of the world.
Speaker 3: How does Middle Eastern deliveries look. We know Ferrari pulled
Speaker 3: back amidst a war. How are you catering to clients
Speaker 3: in that region that are dealing with the war on
Speaker 3: their doorstep?
Speaker 1: Well, of course, the Midley situation is one that we're
Speaker 1: watching very very closely. It's an important region for us,
Speaker 1: and our thoughts are very much with the people that
Speaker 1: are affected by the situation. Right now, however, demand for
Speaker 1: Rolls Royce globally is still very very strong, so of
Speaker 1: course it's too early to say what sort of impact
Speaker 1: that may have. I don't think anyone knows at this stage.
Speaker 2: But you're still you're able to sell one hundred five
Speaker 2: million dollar cars. Let's just say, I'll pick a number,
Speaker 2: so Ferrari can do this as well. Now you see
Speaker 2: Pegani and Kuenigzeg doing this. I mean, is this an
Speaker 2: unprecedented time where people were the amount of people that
Speaker 2: are so wealthy to buy as many products at that
Speaker 2: level exist.
Speaker 1: It's clear that the ultra high net worth audience is
Speaker 1: continuing to grow, but their tastes for luxury are very
Speaker 1: much shifting away from just having objects to having experiences
Speaker 1: or creating objects which are meaningful, personally resonant, and that
Speaker 1: really plays to Rolls Royce's strengths. Everything we create is
Speaker 1: because a client has asked us to do it, and
Speaker 1: Project Nightingale is a great example of that, where not
Speaker 1: just the motor car itself, but the client journey is
Speaker 1: something which is truly remarkable. Remember these clients have been
Speaker 1: in the inner circle for two years and they'll be
Speaker 1: part of the testing process for the motor car as well,
Speaker 1: so their experience is something that quite literally money can't buy.
Speaker 1: This is about a relationship that we have with our clients.
Speaker 2: One of the experiences I would love to have and
Speaker 2: will hopefully someday soon as a tour of your factory
Speaker 2: at Goodwood. This is the estate of the Duke of Richmond,
Speaker 2: where the Festival of Speed happens and where you have
Speaker 2: your factory which normally puts out your production cars. But
Speaker 2: now you've invested some massive some I think three hundred
Speaker 2: million pounds to enable this luxury process. What was involved
Speaker 2: in that.
Speaker 1: Well, it's very clear that demand for more complex commissions
Speaker 1: is increasing and it's increasing rapidly. That's a core part
Speaker 1: of the Rolls Royce luxury model, and so we've extended
Speaker 1: the facility in Goodwood so that we've got space for
Speaker 1: those commissions. It also increases our capacity for more complex
Speaker 1: paint finishes on motor cars and also these coach bill
Speaker 1: projects too. The whole principle of Rolls Royce is about scarcity,
Speaker 1: so we extend our factory so that we can create
Speaker 1: more value for each motor car rather than creating more
Speaker 1: volume of motor cars.
Speaker 2: So, by the way, do you share your margins are?
Speaker 2: What are your margins and how have they grown?
Speaker 1: We don't talk about specific details, but what I can
Speaker 1: tell you is we make a very meaningful contribution to
Speaker 1: our shareholder BMW Group.
Speaker 2: All right, it's been great having you here, Chris brown Ridge.
Speaker 2: I hope the next time I see you is that Goodwood.
Speaker 1: Hope.
Speaker 2: I would like to go. I don't know when the
Speaker 2: I want to go to the revival. So they have
Speaker 2: the revival there, Danny, you have to explain the Festival
Speaker 2: of Speed is exactly what it sounds like. The festival
Speaker 2: modern cars and everything, but the Revival is like a throwback.
Speaker 1: So you dress everyone does as if you.
Speaker 2: Were in like pre war the pre war era.
Speaker 3: Sorry, what does that mean? You dress as if you
Speaker 3: were in the pre war era.
Speaker 2: But it's like you go dressed as Downton Abbey basically
Speaker 2: or whatever you like to.
Speaker 1: Create nineteen fifties clothing. It's a very special event. I'd
Speaker 1: say it's one of the best events on the on
Speaker 1: the calendar