2016 was Rolls‑Royce's second best year EVER

While demand remained high for the Wraith and Ghost models, the company introduced the striking Black Badge variant of both models last year, aimed at an increasingly younger audience. It also ramped up production of the Dawn drophead, which entered full production with the strongest pre-order book ever achieved by a Rolls-Royce model.

The Goodwood-based luxury marque also created 100 new jobs last year, while there were record results for the company’s Bespoke division, and the apprenticeship programmes celebrated its 10th anniversary with a record intake of applicants.

Sales for Rolls-Royce were up six percent year on year in 2016, with cars exported to more than 50 countries. The company recorded its highest-ever sales in key global markets including the Americas (up 12 per cent), Europe (up 28 per cent) and Asian Pacific (up 5 per cent). Notably, sales in Japan increased by 51 per cent, and in the UK by 26 per cent. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Dubai became the highest-selling dealership globally.

The marque’s Bespoke division completed its largest single commission last year – a fleet of 30 Extended Wheelbase Phantoms for a hotel in Macau.

Torsten Muller-Otvos, CEO of Rolls-Royce, said, “This remarkable result emphatically affirms the global appeal of the very finest British luxury goods to the world’s most discerning patrons. Rolls-Royce is a true Great British manufacturing success story, one driven by the hard work and ingenuity of the men and women employed at out Centre of Luxury Excellence in Goodwood, West Sussex. We are deeply committed to a long-term sustainable, successful growth strategy and this result, amid a backdrop of global uncertainty, affirms this approach. 2016 has proven the perfect year to sign off the successful first chapter of the renaissance of Rolls-Royce. Success for Rolls-Royce is success for Great Britain ad we reaffirm our commitment to maintaining the home of Rolls-Royce in the UK.”