London (dailynewyorknews) – During the 1970′s, the automobile industry in Britain was the sick man of Europe: many models have been poorly designed and constructed, politicians and business management nationalized the lack of strategic vision while workers were often on strike.
Four decades later, this perception has become the head. Despite the closure of the last British-owned volume car manufacturer, Rover, in 2005, the country is being built near the vehicle registration number, while the proportion of vehicles exported was the highest ever recorded.
Contrary to the moribund state of the global economy, sales of luxury cars are now leading the charge. Rolls-Royce Monday has posted his best result in its history of 107, with 3538 cars – costing more than £ 200,000 ($ 308,000) – sold in 2011, an increase of 31% over the figure of the previous year. This growth is driven by growing demand in Asia: China joined the United States as the largest market for BMW belonging to the.
“We had an exceptional year in 2011 and we should take a moment to reflect on the Great British success story,” said company CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös. Rolls-Royce spokesman Andrew Ball told CNN that the company was profitable, but declined to detail the numbers.
The rise of the Rolls-Royce sales figures come days after former sister company, Bentley, was 37% of global sales, also in the back of increased sales to China and the U. S. Volkswagen, a subsidiary company, based in Crewe, northern England, in 2011 sold over 7,000 cars, whose prices start at £ 133,000 ($ 208,000).
The increase in production comes on the back of a huge increase in productivity. In the decade of 1970, 545,000 people were employed in the automobile factories in Britain, so that 15 million cars of the decade. Between 2001 and 2011 there were only 133,000 industrial workers, but they produced 16,100,000 cars.
Toyota just created 1,500 jobs at its plant in Derbyshire, an investment of £ 100 000 000, while Jaguar and Land Rover, said it would double the size of its plant in Merseyside to provide 1,000 new jobs.
The success of British car manufacturers is shared by U.S. automakers should report their earnings for the first time since 2004. Most analysts expect better sales across the industry in 2012 and beyond. They see sales of 12.8 million in 2011 to between 13.5 to 14,000,000 this year and almost 15 million in 2014 or 2015.
Detroit automakers are finally gains
The number of sales of Rolls-Royce is the best since 1978 when the company sold 3347 cars, most of Silver Shadow II model. The latest models of Rolls-Royce shares many components with the BMW models like the 7 Series, but they cost more than twice.
Motor journalist Iain Reid of What Car? The magazine said one of the reasons behind the success of RR was its product line. “If people will buy the right model. The ghost car is a success because it is a little more affordable and less ostentatious than the ghost.”
The Rolls-Royce is well, he says, because he married the British heritage, with sales of BMW and marketing. Reid added that companies like Nissan, Honda and BMW Mini are good plants in the United Kingdom that have been building desirable cars. “You can not go wrong with this mixture,” Reid told CNN.
Industry analyst Paul Nieuwenhuis, said that while many customers have bought luxury cars “metro” – that is, they care more about the image of the machine – modern Rolls-Royce cars exception. “They are surprisingly agile and do not feel nearly as big as they really are. And attention to detail is unmatched.”
Nieuwenhuis, director of automotive industry research at Cardiff Business School, said Britain had a worldwide reputation for building cars. “It’s something we do well, despite our own car market so badly.” He said the sales figures for Rolls-Royce has shown that “the rich have more money”, especially in China.
The rights to use the name Rolls-Royce have been carried out by BMW since 1998, when Vickers sold outside Rolls-Royce Motors, which has also made cars Bentley. Volkswagen paid £ 430 million for the existing plant in Crewe, but not guaranteeing the rights to use the name of Rolls-Royce in their vehicles. The property was acquired by Rolls-Royce plc, which continues to aircraft engines, for £ 40 million to BMW, which built a new factory in Goodwood, West Sussex, southern England.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/09/business/britain-rolls-royce/index.html?hpt=ibu_t4
