Rolls-Royce is seriously considering reconfiguring its environmentally friendly Goodwood factory to build the proposed SUV model, according to CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös.
The factory, built on the Goodwood estate at Westhampnett, near Chichester, was opened in 2003 to build the Rolls-Royce Phantom, and stands in an officially designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The site cannot easily be expanded.
The plant has already been expanded once to make way for the debut of the Rolls-Royce Ghost saloon in 2009, and the Rolls-Royce Wraith coupé last year, but is again nearing its capacity. Total Goodwood volume hit 3600 units last year, the fourth straight record, and seems likely to rise by 1000-plus this year when Wraith production (made only in the fourth quarter last year) starts in earnest.
Rolls-Royce currently holds around 800 Wraith orders, and says the car is sold out until June, suggesting full-year-production of around 1500 units for the model. An SUV could contribute at least another 2000 units a year to total volume, which indicates total Goodwood production could top easily 6000 units before the end of the decade.
Speaking exclusively to Autocar, the Rolls CEO denied that the company had reached a settled concept for an SUV, much less signing anything off, although it is attracted by the idea. “We are moving on with it,” he says, “but our other products are performing well and we don’t need to rush.”
Rolls-Royce is most unlikely to solve any capacity problems by making cars away from Goodwood, says Müller-Ötvös “We firmly believe Britishness and Goodwood in particular are vital assets of Rolls-Royce and we are most unlikely to do anything to damage them.”