Rolls-Royce

 Overview

Rolls-Royce was originally the name of the British car and aero engine manufacturing company founded by by C.S. Rolls and Henry Royce in 1904.

Currently it is the trade name used for the production of the Rolls-Royce Phantom by BMW. Delivery of this model started in 2003.

Uniquely, Bentley Motors Limited and not Rolls-Royce is the company which continues the legacy of the Rolls-Royce automobile division. Bentley Motors Limited was aquired by the Volkswagen Group in 1998. However, it was only allowed to produce cars with the Rolls-Royce trademark until 2003, at which time the license for the trademarks went to BMW.

Between 1931 and 2003, Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles shared a lot of their mechanical and design parts, with the main difference usually being the radiator grille. Since 2003, production model Rolls-Royce cars have no corporate or technical historical legacy with their predecesors, other than the Rolls-Royce trademark.

Rolls-Royce cars are commonly referred to as "Rolls", "Roller" and "Double R" in popular culture. Although the residents of Derby, the community in which the headquarters of Rolls-Royce plc is located, refer to the firm as "Royce's".

Another interesting fact is that Rolls-Royces were originally built in Crewe, Cheshire, but after the BMW takeover of the trademark, they are produced in the new Rolls-Royce factory located at Goodwood in Sussex.

Current Rolls-Royce Automobiles

2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom

MSRP: $328,750
City Mileage: 12 mpg   Hwy Mileage: 19 mpg

2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom

Concept/Prototype Rolls-Royce Automobiles

Rolls-Royce 101EX

MSRP: NA

City Mileage: NA Hwy Mileage: NA

 Rolls-Royce 101EX

The VW and BMW deal for Rolls-Royce

In 1998 Vickers decided to sell the Rolls-Royce car business. Although Volkswagen Group also made offers for the company, the leading contender seemed to be BMW, who already supplied engines and other components for Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. However their final offer of £340m was outbid by VW, who offered £430m.

This was far from the end of the story, though. Rolls-Royce plc, the aero-engine maker, decided it would license certain essential trademarks (the Rolls-Royce name and logo) not to VW, but to BMW, with whom it had recently had joint business ventures. VW had bought rights to the "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot and the shape of the radiator grille, but it lacked rights to the Rolls-Royce name in order to build the cars. Likewise, BMW lacked rights to the grille and mascot. BMW bought an option on the trademarks, licensing the name and "RR" logo for £40m, a deal that many commentators thought was a bargain for possibly the most valuable property in the deal. VW claimed that it had only really wanted Bentley anyway.

BMW and VW arrived at a solution. From 1998 to 2002 BMW would continue to supply engines for the cars and would allow use of the names, but this would cease on January 1, 2003. On that date, only BMW would be able to name cars "Rolls-Royce", and VW's former Rolls-Royce/Bentley division would build only cars called "Bentley". Rolls Royce's convertible, the Corniche, ceased production in 2002.

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