It's About Keeping The Brand Highly Exclusive
It's About Keeping The Brand Highly Exclusive

Video: It's About Keeping The Brand Highly Exclusive

Video: It's About Keeping The Brand Highly Exclusive
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Rolls-Royce presented the new Phantom in London. In an interview with Autogazette, brand boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös talks about Brexit and why you don't need shaving foam to increase brand awareness.

The BMW subsidiary Rolls-Royce presented the new Phantom in the British capital London this week. As always when the BMW subsidiary presents a new model, it is something special. It was the same this time. In an interview with Autogazette, Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös talks about the consequences of Brexit and why there will be no model below the Ghost.

That is exactly what makes luxury

“It's about keeping the brand highly exclusive and also limiting the number of units. That is exactly what makes luxury - to be rare and unique,”said Müller-Ötvös. The manager has been responsible for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. since April 2010. Before working for the luxury brand, Ötvös was responsible for the brand and product strategy at the parent company BMW and Mini.

An architecture of luxury introduced

Autogazette: Mr. Müller-Ötvös, from your company's point of view, the new Phantom is the highlight of 2017, the SUV Cullinan will take on this role next year. Are the possibilities of new models for Rolls Royce exhausted?

Torsten Müller-Ötvös: With the Phantom we introduced an architecture of luxury that will enable us to derive derivatives from it in the future on the basis of a spaceframe construction. The Cullinan will be the second model to sit on this spaceframe architecture. We have consciously said goodbye to using any platforms or bodies, because from the point of view of our customers it cannot be otherwise. If it's Rolls-Royce, then it's absolutely independent.

Autogazette:Above the phantom, a vehicle seems inconceivable, but can you imagine a smaller car below the ghost, for example a sporty two-seater with the Spirit of Ecstasy on the radiator?

Müller-Ötvös: We have adopted a clear strategy that says that we will not make any offers in the market below the price position of a Ghost. It's about keeping the brand highly exclusive and also limiting the number of units. That is exactly what constitutes luxury - to be rare and unique.

We currently sell 4000 automobiles annually worldwide

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Autogazette: Luxury manufacturers have also expanded their volumes significantly in recent years. What do you think, from what number of units could the exclusivity of Rolls-Royce be threatened?

Müller-Ötvös: We currently sell around 4,000 automobiles a year worldwide, and even if it were 5,000, it didn't make much difference. For me it is crucial which price position a brand takes. And it is very clear that there is no way we will go further down the price position just to make a little more volume. That would be highly counterproductive.

Autogazette: Which drives can we expect with the Cullinan. Is it true that a hybrid version is in preparation?

Müller-Ötvös:Hybrid is not the direction we're going to take. According to the “Vision 100” study presented, we think that the brand's future thrust is clearly going in the direction of an electric drive and that no intermediate steps such as hybrid drive are required.

Autogazette: Does that also apply to the successors to Ghost, Wraith and Dawn?

Müller-Ötvös: Yes, we will start electrifying the brand in the next decade.

Even we as a brand are not completely immune

This is what the Vision Next 100 looks like at Rolls-Royce
This is what the Vision Next 100 looks like at Rolls-Royce

Autogazette: is autonomous driving an issue for Rolls-Royce?

Müller-Ötvös: Almost every one of our customers has access to a chauffeur. We are currently not seeing any pressure from our customers to deal with this topic. If technology allows autonomous driving to be made as effortless as what this brand stands for, then we will certainly introduce it in a Rolls-Royce as well.

Autogazette: The Rolls-Royce sales record from 2014 has not yet been achieved. Where do you see the reasons for this and what is your forecast for 2017?

Müller-Ötvös:As a brand, we are also not completely immune to fluctuations in the markets. The Chinese market has always played a very substantial role for us and we have seen in the past two years that political decisions have led to slumps in China. But that is recovering very well at the moment. In principle, we position ourselves so internationally that we are not dependent on economic events in individual countries. We will stay well below 4000 units this year, which has to do with the phasing out of the Phantom VII and the start of production of the new model. The phantom does not play a role in our number of units this year.

Rolls-Royce stands for the best in the world

Autogazette: Other manufacturers of luxury automobiles have opened up additional business areas by decorating furniture, clothing, cosmetics and accessories with their labels and thus increasing brand awareness. Would that be an option for Rolls-Royce as well?

Müller-Ötvös: The brand awareness of Rolls-Royce is not an issue at all. No matter where you go, the name Rolls-Royce stands for the best in the world and is therefore often used as a synonym for the best. I don't want it to be understood as arrogance, but with this in mind, we don't need to contribute to the brand's awareness with shaving foam or similar items.

Autogazette:Is it also an expression of this attitude that you cannot find any identifiable brands on the on-board clocks or the sound systems in your cars, for example? Elsewhere, these features can be recognized as products from well-known specialist manufacturers.

Müller-Ötvös: We consciously go the way that there is always a Rolls-Royce watch in a Rolls-Royce. We deliberately refrain from permanently partnering with another brand. If there are customers who would like to have a watch of a certain brand installed, we'd be happy to do that, but a Rolls-Royce is always a Rolls-Royce at the end of the day.

For us business is currently completely normal

The long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Ghost is particularly popular in China
The long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Ghost is particularly popular in China

Autogazette: An important core value of the brand is what the word heritage sums up, the legacy of Rolls-Royce and its care. When Rolls-Royce moved out of the factory premises in Crewe, nothing but his name could be taken with him. How can they meet the demands of owners of historic vehicles and preserve the traditional?

Müller-Ötvös:We work closely with clubs around the world. We would be ill advised if we did not use this incredible history accordingly. In my opinion, under the leadership of the BMW Group, it has been very successful to bring the brand back to where it has always been, namely at the forefront of automotive engineering. The art of brand management is, on the one hand, to preserve history and, at the same time, to develop it towards modernity in such a way that it does not lose its authenticity. One of our best-known partners in the field of maintaining tradition is P. & A. Wood, (a restoration company north-east of London, editor's note) who is world-famous for his expertise. We can refer customers who have historic vehicles in their fleet there or to appropriate addresses.

Autogazette: As a British company with a German owner, you may be concerned about Britain's coming exit from the EU. What effects do you expect from Brexit or what precautionary measures have you taken against possible negative effects?

Müller-Ötvös: For us, business is currently completely normal. We are of good cheer that a sensible solution will be found.

Autogazette: The monarchs of the United Kingdom drove Rolls Royce for decades. Do you have the ambition to one day provide the Queen's or possibly a King's company car again?

Müller-Ötvös:As an Englishman, and as such I feel in this regard, it is not proper to speak of British royalty. I cannot therefore give you any information on this.

Axel F. Busse conducted the interview with Torsten Müller-Ötvös

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