Rolls-Royce press releases are often longer than the cars, so I don’t read them every day. The latter was short and the punchline stuck. One: Rolls-Royce delivered more than 6,000 cars for the first time last year. Two, more interesting; the average Rolls-Royce customer puts half a million dollars into their car. Especially the custom made bits and pieces from the Bespoke department go down like a cake.
Half a million! Now don’t start shooting at those stupid rich people right away. I understand the desirability of a Rolls-Royce. I have ridden several and that was special. But I’m too sober for that nonsense or I know too well what’s for sale. I’m just going to sit and compare miserly Dutch. Here in the northeast of the country, surrounded by beautiful nature, you can buy 150 square meters of living pleasure with a hell of a garden for half a million euros. You have ten Ioniqs 5 for it, big and chic and equally quiet. Just checked off a BMW i7 on the Bucket List for a week, for a maximum of two tons, nothing less than a Phantom Coupé for the triple.
Apples and pears, I know. The Rolls man is not a Dutchman. He lives differently. He is from Dubai and is worth three billion. He does not read comparison tests in car magazines. He is always right, knows everything for sure. He thinks he has the best car in the world for his mere five tons.
He also doesn’t feel like paying attention to the little ones at all. That’s why it wouldn’t even be an i7 if it surpassed a Ghost in every way. He wants the most expensive. It’s not just lavish money laundering. New money has no history. It craves the emotional connection to real traditions. It seeks heritage, the myth of the old continent, symbol of royalty and ancient, solid wealth. That is, in short, why a wealthy Egyptian bought the Harrods department store in London in 1985, and why Rolls-Royce bought a store in Dubai last year. private office opened for customers.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is Rolls-Royce’s business model.
Because Rolls-Royce is a faith that stands for the supreme as in the two largest religions on earth God or Allah. Just as believers do not ask for proof because they know for sure, the Rolls customer does not want to know at all whether his car is really the best. God costs half a million, the price is the proof. With a little customizing, His Holiness Bespoke from head to butt is all yours.
You may find that unfortunate. But it is unique, a shop that runs purely on dazzle. It’s a beautiful childlike piece of magic in a world deprived of mysticism. Wreck Rolls-Royce, and you’ll kill the belief in the car as a haven of heavenly bliss.
The new European wealth will simply go for an i7 this year. Also heaven on earth. But we are no longer that way. We conclude after comparative research: this is the best. We are not believers, we smother gut feelings in cool calculation. A new business sense will shatter the myth of the top class. When the last intoxication has passed, we also go for an Ioniq 5 with two tons in our back pocket. And then we are lost for eternity.
Congratulations, Rolls Royce. Drive people crazy while you can. Although this sober Dutchman bursts into laughter at every endless press release. And while we’re on the phone, call me soon about that electric Spectre. Can not wait!
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl