SINGAPORE: It was a phenomenal year for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars with the luxury car maker reporting record results for 2021, the highest in the marque’s 117-year history despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

       The company delivered 5,586 cars to clients, up by 49% against the same period in 2020, setting all-time records in most regions, including Greater China, the Americas, Asia- Pacific and in multiple countries.

       Chief executive officer Torsten Muller-Otvos told a virtual press conference held at its Goodwood plant yesterday that the luxury business is “booming”.

       The plant in West Sussex, Britain serves as company’s headquarters, design, manufacturing and assembly centre.

       “It is very much due to Covid-19 that the entire luxury business is, I would call it, booming worldwide and (there are) many reasons why,” he said.

       “People couldn’t travel a lot. They couldn’t invest a lot into what I would call luxury services all over the world. For that reason, there is quite a lot of money accumulated worldwide, which was spent on luxury goods. People were dying from Covid-19 and that made them think that life can be short and you better live now (rather) than postpone it to later days.

       “That has helped quite massively (with many) investing into what I would call the nice lovely things in the world. This is luxury goods obviously, and that had helped Rolls-Royce,” he said when responding to questions.Muller-Otvos said demand for all models across the range has been extremely strong, particularly for Ghost and Cullinan models. This has ensured that order books remain full well into the third quarter of 2022.

       Growth was driven principally by Ghost, with demand surging further following the launch of Black Badge Ghost in October 2021.

       Rolls-Royce, in 2021, also announced its first all-electric car, Spectre.

       Muller-Otvos said the extraordinary undertaking of bringing Spectre to the market by the fourth quarter of 2023 has now begun and that the most punishing testing protocol ever conceived for a Rolls？Royce is underway.

       “This 2.5？million-km journey, which extends to all four corners of the world, will stimulate more than 400 years of use for a Rolls？Royce,” he said. — Bernama