Rolls-Royce has announced record bespoke sales in 2024, underpinning a global trend for exclusive supercar commissions.
The British luxury carmaker recorded a 10 per cent rise in the value of each motor car, with commissions including 18-carat gold sculptures, handcrafted marquetry of more than 500 individual wood pieces, holographic paint finishes and intricate embroideries featuring nearly 870,000 stitches.
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With 5,712 motor cars delivered in 2024, Rolls-Royce achieved its third-highest sales year on record. The demand was driven by North America and Europe, with the Middle East emerging as the highest bespoke value region.
Such is the demand for unique, hand-finished and personal designs in this ultra-exclusive but low-volume world, Rolls-Royce is undertaking a £300 million expansion of its Goodwood site to accommodate the increasing complexity of bespoke commissions. The brand has expanded its invite-only Private Office network, adding new locations in New York and Seoul to its existing spaces in Dubai and Shanghai.
Putting a price on exclusivity
The company doesn’t disclose prices, but this six-metre-long one-off Rolls-Royce Phantom, commissioned to commemorate the 1964 Bond movie Goldfinger, was reported to nudge the £5 million mark.
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Ten editions of the Phantom Scintilla will be made available worldwide as part of a limited-edition run to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the brand’s muse, the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’, the winged figure that adorns the bonnet of every Rolls-Royce. Again, the price is hush-hush, but 2023’s La Rose Noire Droptail, the first completed car in the third project from Rolls-Royce’s ultra-exclusive Coachbuild division, had a price tag rumoured to be more than $30 million.
Away from Goodwood, these reborn EV Rolls-Royce Corniche and Silver Shadow, made by a team of passionate former F1 engineers in Guildford, have a price tag of £500,000.
Bespoke grows globally
The importance of personalisation in the luxury motoring world has grown globally in recent years. As Spear’s motoring journalist, Mark Walton noted, all the major brands now have departments that take care of ultra-customers: Rolls-Royce has Private Office, Aston has its Q division, Ferrari has Tailor Made, Bentley has Mulliner while British supercar manufacturer McLaren has McLaren Special Operations, or MSO.
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The expansion of Goodwood is designed to prepare the facility for Rolls-Royce’s transition to an all-electric future. Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric vehicle, became the most requested model in Europe and the second globally, proving that electrification and luxury craftsmanship can seamlessly coexist.
