Who Owns Rolls-Royce And Where Are The Cars Made?

The current owner of Rolls-Royce is BMW, which acquired the company in 1998 and began its custodianship on January 1, 2003. Since then, BMW has been responsible for the company and its cars. Rolls-Royce also has an illustrious earlier history that goes back to the honorable Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce, two engineers who met in 1904 and decided to build cars together — but not just any cars. Rolls and Royce, along with managing director Claude Johnson handling the cars' marketing, earning him the title "the hyphen in Rolls-Royce," used the tagline "The Best Car in the World" right from the start. 

Rolls and Royce agreed that there would be four specific models made by the company — a two-cylinder, a three-cylinder, a four-cylinder, and a six-cylinder vehicle. All would be named Rolls-Royce and Rolls would be the exclusive dealer. The first Rolls-Royce car was based on Royce's two-cylinder Royce 10, which debuted at the 1904 Paris Auto Salon. 

As it turned out, the 40/50HP six-cylinder Rolls-Royce would be the car that brought fame to the company. It was called the Silver Ghost, and it's one of the best Rolls-Royce models ever designed. Тhis vehicle became the company's primary focus, enabling it to become extremely successful. The Silver Ghost was produced from 1906 until 1926.

In 1931, Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley. Bentley's plant closed and all production moved into Rolls-Royce's Derby factory in England, where both would be built. The two brands became very similar after World War II, which continued until the Volkswagen Group acquired Bentley.

Rolls-Royce cars have been made in several different locations. Starting in 1906, after searching for a location for their first factory, Rolls and Royce settled on Derby, where the city council committed to providing them with inexpensive electricity. The Derby plant saw the start of production in 1908. 

The success of the Silver Ghost meant opening a second plant to meet the demand. This second Rolls-Royce factory was built in Springfield, Massachusetts. An American factory was seen as a way to more directly serve the more robust (at the time) U.S. economy, while eliminating the import duties that would be levied on cars coming from Great Britain. From the time it delivered its first car in 1921 until its closing in 1931, a total of 2,946 Rolls-Royces were built there. These Springfield Rolls-Royces could be found in the homes of some very wealthy Americans, including the Bloomingdale family, the Guggenheims, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

Upon BMW's takeover of the brand in 2003, in the wake of the dramatic battle that split up Rolls-Royce and Bentley, a new, totally modern and suitably upscale factory location was needed. Rolls-Royce's founder, Henry Royce, had a connection with the Goodwood area, which was also home to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Duke of Richmond, owner of the Goodwood Estate, supported the project and picked an ideal location for the plant. Today, Goodwood is the only place worldwide in which the very expensive Rolls-Royce cars are built.