The 13 purchase ‘highlight’ of Rolls-Royce’s 2016

The completion of the 30 customised Rolls-Royce Phantom luxury cars for The 13 hotel in Macau was ‘a highlight of the year’ for Rolls-Royce, as mentioned yesterday in the group’s sales announcement for 2016.
The group notes that the 30 Extended Wheelbase, custom coloured, ‘designed and handcrafted’ order placed by billionaire Stephen Hung for the property was ‘the largest single commission ever undertaken by Rolls Royce’. Estimations by the Financial Times place the value of the order at US$20 million (MOP160 million).
The group also notes that the model in question – the Phantom – has ‘retained its status as both the company’s pinnacle flagship product and the ‘best car in the world’’.
The group announced that for the 2016 year it saw its second highest sales results ever in the brand’s 113-year history. Sales results were up 6 per cent, with a total of 4,011 cars delivered to customers during the year, spread across 50 countries, ‘affirming the brand’s strength and resilience in a year of challenging market conditions for luxury goods worldwide,’ the group notes.
The highest selling dealership for the company was its Dubai distributor, while The Americas remained the brand’s top region, with a year-on-year sales increase of 12 per cent. Europe saw a 28 per cent year-on-year sales increase for the period, while the Asia Pacific region rose just 5 per cent year-on-year.
Amongst the region sales in Japan saw a 51 per cent year-on-year increase, while China saw a 23 per cent year-on-year increase.
‘The only major region where conditions remained difficult was the Middle East where consumer demand for all luxury goods was dampened by economic and political uncertainty,’ notes the group.
Over the course of the year the group opened a further six dealerships, with the total at year-end of 136.
The group opened its new Technology and Logistics Centre this month ‘on schedule,’ adding 30,000 square metres with the ‘potential for future expansion’ including a nearly 10,000 square metre expansion this year ‘to meet growing demand and in readiness for future models.’
In addition, the group notes that all future models starting from ‘early’ 2018 and built on their new single line manufacturing system will be underpinned by its new aluminium ‘space-frame architecture’, the testing stage of which is ‘now approaching completion’.
According to company representatives further results will be announced soon.