Rolls-Royce reported record sales last year, which has an average price take of around $534,000. There is a drop in Chinese demand, with orders stretching into 2023. The brand sold 6,021 cars in 2022, from 5,586 in 2021.
Rolls-Royce’s sales were led by the Americas, with the U.S. remaining its top market with around 35% of sales. In China, the carmaker’s second-largest market, coronavirus-related lockdowns led to a “single-digit drop” in sales. But CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said in an online presentation that this decrease was offset by growth in other markets. “Our order book stretches far into 2023 for all models,” Müller-Ötvös said. “We haven’t seen any slowdown in orders.”
Rolls-Royce said that pre-orders for its fully-electric Spectre, due to go on sale at the end of 2023, had exceeded all of its expectations. The CEO told reporters that the growth anticipated for 2023 came despite Rolls-Royce halting sales in Russia, which typically accounted for 250 to 300 units per year, in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine last February. Müller-Ötvös said the luxury brand’s bespoke, customized approach had led to “ever more imaginative, personal and technically demanding” orders from customers.
Future sales
the U.S. was the largest market overall for Rolls-Royce in 2022, accounting for nearly 35% of its global sales, Muller-Otvos said. China, its second-largest market, saw a slight decline in sales but still claimed 25% of global sales and posted its second-strongest year for the company. Muller-Otvos said China’s reopening and economic recovery could help make China its largest market in the future.
“I foresee that market being quite a stunning business for us,” he said. “Particularly in the luxury segment, it’s in growth mode. I would not be surprised to see one day China is the largest region for us worldwide.” Meanwhile, the automaker’s biggest launch of 2022 was the Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s first electric vehicle and the beginning of its plan to become fully electric by 2030. Spectre, with a starting price of $413,000, saw more than 300 preorders from U.S. customers before it was officially unveiled last October. Muller-Otvos said U.S. orders have continued to climb, though he declined to provide numbers. “Definitely far more than 300,” he said. “The order book has exceeded our expectations — even our highest expectations.”
Rolls-Royce has a big order backlog that will help cushion the company against any potential recession, Muller-Otvos said. The backorders now stretch for nearly a year, meaning anyone purchasing a Rolls-Royce today will most likely have to wait between 10 months and a year, depending on the model and features.
