Rob Davies 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars boss pledges future in UK despite Brexit qualms

Luxury carmaker unveils second-highest sales figure in more than a century
  
  

Rolls-Royce sold 4,011 cars last year
Rolls-Royce sold 4,011 cars last year. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has vowed not to turn its back on the UK amid concerns that firms could shift their headquarters overseas in response to the Brexit vote.

The luxury carmaker, which is owned by Germany’s BMW, posted its second-highest annual sales in more than a century, up 6% on last year to 4,011 vehicles.

The chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars took the opportunity to pledge the firm’s future in the UK, just months after he warned staff that their jobs could be affected by Brexit.

“Success for Rolls-Royce is success for Great Britain and we reaffirm our commitment to maintaining the home of Rolls-Royce in the UK,” Torsten Müller-Ötvös, told Sky.

In a letter leaked to the Guardian last year, Müller-Ötvös told British staff an exit from the European Union would drive up costs and prices and could affect the company’s “employment base”.

But the comments issued alongside the company’s sales figures indicate that even if staff are affected, the company does not plan to abandon its headquarters at Goodwood in West Sussex, southern England.

“We are deeply committed to a long-term, sustainable, successful growth strategy and this result, amid a backdrop of global uncertainty, affirms this approach,” Müller-Ötvös said.

“2016 has proven the perfect year to sign off the successful first chapter of the renaissance of Rolls-Royce.”

In Müller-Ötvös’ letter to staff, he said Rolls-Royce and the wider BMW Group would be adversely affected by Brexit.

“Free trade is important for international business,” he wrote. “Rolls-Royce Motor Cars exports motor cars throughout the EU and imports a significant number of parts through the region.

“For BMW Group, more than half of Minis built and virtually all the engines and components made in the UK are exported to the EU, with over 150,000 new cars and many hundreds of thousands of parts imported from Europe each year.

“Tariff barriers would mean higher costs and higher prices and we cannot assume the UK would be granted free trade with Europe from outside the EU.

“Our employment base could also be affected, with skilled men and women from most EU countries included in the 30 nationalities currently represented at the home of Rolls-Royce here at Goodwood.”

 

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