Rolls-Royce waltzes to new sales record in 2022

The world’s economic situation has been better, but that hasn’t stopped super luxury brand Rolls-Royce from posting a new record annual sales result.

The marque notched up 6021 sales last year in 50 countries, up 8 per cent on 2021’s old record. The company says it’s carrying an order book that stretches deep into 2023 on all its models.

The Cullinan SUV consolidated its spot as the most in-demand Rolls-Royce, yet interestingly the Ghost was the best-selling model in the Asia-Pacific.

Of course sales volume is never really the aim of the game for brands at the uppermost echelon, and Rolls-Royce says its bespoke, coach-built commissions are at record levels too.

The success of the company’s Goodwood-housed customisation program means the average transaction price of a custom Rolls-Royce in 2022 was half-a-million Euros ($A770,000).

“2022 has been a momentous year for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars,” said chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös.

“Not only did we reveal Rolls-Royce Spectre, our marque’s first ever fully-electric series model to the world, it was also the first year we ever delivered more than 6,000 cars in a single 12-month period, with strong demand across our entire product portfolio.”

Rolls-Royce saw strong year-on-year growth in the Middle East, the marque’s biggest region for bespoke commissions.

The Americas saw significant growth in 2022 and remains the largest single region for Rolls-Royce, with almost all markets achieving higher sales than the previous year.

Despite the geopolitical challenges affecting Europe – and the hit the company took from stopping sales in Russia – the region grew overall in 2022 with record sales in several markets including the UK and Germany.

The Asia-Pacific region also achieved higher sales than ever before, despite a decline in the massive (COVID-affected) Chinese market – Rolls-Royce’s second-largest – with Korea and Japan posting gains.

Meanehwhile Rolls-Royce sales in Australia last year ended up at 60 units, up 25 per cent YoY. That means Australia accounts for a neat 1 per cent of company volumes.

“While we are not immune to global challenges and economic headwinds, thanks to our balanced worldwide sales strategy, we are cautiously optimistic that 2023 will be a strong year for Rolls-Royce,” Mr Müller-Ötvös said.

“… No we haven’t seen any slowdown in orders [given world events],” he added at the subsequent press conference.