Rolls-Royce sales falling short of target

Press, 25 November 1982, Page 23

Rolls-Royce sales falling short of target

Rolls-Royce world sales are not expected ,to exceed 2500 this year and that is well short of the target the Crewe-based car-maker set itself when it introduced the Silver Spirit a couple of years ago.

The car industry is feeling the pinch in Britain and in the first nine months of this year Rolls-Royce domestic sales fell from 1087 last year to 697.

Now the company is looking for 750 redundancies at Crewe as part of a general cost-cutting programme to try to preserve its record of 60 per cent exports. Writing in a recent edition of the “Observer,” Eric Dymock points out that a RollsRoyce is not the investment it used to be.

In inflationary times, a Rolls Royce was one of the most economical cars on the balance sheet. Its value hardly ever dropped. All that was needed was the money, or at least the credit, to buy it in the first place and the owner could have motoring for virtually nothing. Now it is a different story. A Rolls-Royce depreciates like any other car, but at the faster rate of £1 per mile, according to Dymock. He also pointed out that when the car bowled down a continental highway at a majestic 125 m.p.h. it consumed petrol at the rate of 12 m.p.g. Other costs confronting owners were £l9O for a 5000-mile oil change, £l7O for a set of brake pads and the best part of £lOOO for a new exhaust system which.

Dymock conceded, was not a frequent replacement. Answering the question:“Is it- worth £55,000 (or around $230,000 in this country)?” Dymock says: “You have to suspend some customary precepts. That is not to excuse the shortcomings, only to explain that RollsRoyce engineers have a particular sort of owner in mind. Cost and economy are not of secondary, but minor, importance. He wants a car that is a recognised superlative, has a hallmark of its own and he is not afraid of looking dignified or wealthy. ‘For him, it is simply the Best in the World. You could never burden your grandchildren with a Jaguar.” And, comparing the RollsRoyce with, a Jaguar, Dymock writes: “Drive it (a Rolls-Royce) as you drive other cars and you will be disappointed. By the standard of lower, sleeker cars, there are some things the Rolls-Royce does less well. The spring is a little too wallowy on twisting roads so that passengers may feel sick, something that would not happen in a Jaguar. There are quite often a lot of thumping noises from the wheels over potholes and bumps such as cats-eyes. The engine is not as silent as BL’s Vl2, but the air-condi-tioning is better, with a splitlevel arrangement that deals with the upper and lower halves of the car separately.” All telling points, I’m sure you will agree, if you happen to be thinking of stabling a Rolls-Royce on the estate.