splashing out on luxury cars. As a result, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars based in Goodwood, West Sussex, sold 5,586 vehicles last year, the highest annual sales in its 117-year history. According to the company’s chief executive, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, its customers, whose average age was 43, were spurred to buy more Rolls-Royces than ever before, as the pandemic was a reminder of their own mortality.
“Many people witnessed people in their community dying from COVID and that made them think life can be short and you’d better live now rather than postpone until a later date,” Müller-Ötvös said. “That has helped Rolls-Royce.”
He added that the restrictions placed by the pandemic on the opportunities of its wealthy customers to spend their money, which also worked for the benefit of the automobile manufacturer. “It is very much due to COVID that the entire luxury business is booming worldwide,” he said. “People couldn’t travel a lot, they couldn’t invest a lot into luxury services… and there is quite a lot of money accumulated that is spent on luxury goods.”
According to the Rolls-Royce CEO, there has been a significant increase in sales in every part of the world, with Americas and Greater China holding on to their positions as the two biggest markets with 30 per cent of sales each.
