Rolls-Royce Is Pouring Millions Into This Small American Town – But Not To Build Cars

Ask any gearhead to imagine a Rolls-Royce and they'll immediately think of the luxurious British limousines that are designed for the world's wealthiest car buyers. They probably won't think of jet engines, backup generators, or submarine propulsion systems. Confusingly, Rolls-Royce Holdings plc doesn't actually make cars at all, but it does make all three of the latter things.

In recent years, Rolls-Royce has invested significantly in its manufacturing operations in America, and in June 2025, it announced that it was investing $24 million to expand its logistics and assembly facility in Mankato, Minnesota. In early July 2026, that expanded facility was officially opened, bringing more than 100 new jobs to the area in the process — none of which will be for making cars.

The expansion will help the company boost its production of backup generators for large-scale infrastructure, which can be used to support everything from airports to power-hungry data centers. In its press release, the company cited support for data centers as the primary reason for the investment, adding that their demand for power generation products grew roughly 50% in 2024 alone.

With the expansion now complete, Rolls-Royce says it expects production levels of its mtu Series 4000 generator sets to increase twofold. The latest investment also includes room for production to increase further at a later date if there's enough demand.

Decades ago, Rolls-Royce made both jet engines and luxury cars, but today, the two companies are distinct. Rolls-Royce the carmaker is owned by BMW and based in Goodwood, England, while Rolls-Royce Holdings makes generators, jet engines, and suchlike. The split between the carmaking and industrial engines divisions happened in the early '70s, when the original Rolls-Royce company went bankrupt after running out of development cash for its RB211 turbofan engine. The British government rescued the company but split it into two halves, eventually selling its carmaking division to Vickers in 1980.

Rolls-Royce's jet engine division was sold back to private investors in 1987, and it has now grown to be one of the U.K.'s largest companies. It's this manufacturer that has invested in the new Mankato plant, as well as in other U.S. facilities such as its engine assembly plant in Aiken, South Carolina.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was divided again in the late '90s. After a bidding war between BMW and Volkswagen, the latter ended up purchasing the original factory in Crewe, England, as well as the Bentley brand, while BMW secured the rights to the Rolls-Royce branding. BMW subsequently relaunched the Rolls-Royce brand in 2003 with the Phantom VII.