Rolls Royce CEO Says ‘We Are Not The Taste Police’ As Customers Order Increasingly Extravagant Cars

It might be hard to be a mainstream European automaker, but it ain’t so bad if you make so few cars you can charge double the MSRP cost for a ‘customized’ version. This is the world Rolls-Royce wants to enter as it doubles down on extravagance. Can you have whatever you want? According to the new CEO, the answer is “yes.”

Today’s Morning Dump is all about scale. Perhaps it’s easier to make a few thousand very expensive cars than it is to make your money on small margins on a few hundred thousand cars. Just ask Stellantis. The board is coming to New York and CEO Carlos Tavares is going to present his plan to save the company and, possibly, his job.

Another way to make it easier to build cars is to wait for your neighbor to invade another country and swoop in and grab a bunch of auto plants once operated by Western automakers. It seems to be working for Chery.

And, finally, legendary executive Ratan Tata passed away, giving us a chance to review the scale of his accomplishments.

RR CEO: As Long As It’s Safe, We’ll Build It

Rolls-Royce has a relatively new CEO, Chris Brownridge, and a brand new bespoke office in New York, so he’s out doing media. My favorite interview is probably with Germany’s Manager Magazine, partially just for this exchange:

Brownridge: Have you seen the Phantom Scintilla that we presented at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach?

Interviewer: To be honest: no.

That colon is giving me life this morning.

Also, guess what? I have. Unlike Manager Magazin I believe in doing the hard work. Hitting the ground. Pounding the pavement. If I have to eat two dozen oysters, drink a few glasses of champagne, and try some bourbon bacon in order to get the story I’ll do it because I’m a damn professional!

The Scintilla is inspired by the Greek statue of the Nike of Samothrace, which I have also seen in The Louvre (brag). My preference, if I had the money, would be for a car inspired by the Venus Callipyge (IYKYK).

And they’d do it, too, as there’s apparently no real limit (other than safety) to what people can order:

Interviewer: But aren’t you walking a fine line here?

Brownridge: I don’t see any risk there and we are not the taste police. Every Rolls-Royce is individually tailored to the customer’s wishes. If you prefer a dark car with an understated design, you can have that.

When he says there’s no risk, it’s probably because of this, from an interview with CNBC:

Rolls-Royce calls its top level of personalization the “Bespoke” program. Creating a Bespoke Rolls can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the sticker price, which for a Rolls-Royce Phantom is just under $500,000, bringing the total sale price of some cars to more than $1 million.

The Private Office is reserved for the most complicated — and expensive — Bespoke projects. It’s not a dealership and there are no actual cars displayed. To get into the Private Office, customers press a black security screen outside an unmarked building and take a secure elevator to the top floor.

Like most European automakers, sales for BMW-owned Rolls-Royce are down. It’s possible it’s because of Chinese demand, though BMW hasn’t broken out Chinese sales of the brand lately (or, at least, I can’t find that data). Overall, Rolls-Royce global sales were down 16% in Q3.

The brand is apparently still quite profitable, which again makes sense if you can make the cars you produce way more expensive. This is becoming a big trend in the auto industry and I don’t hate it. A bunch of grey Rollers doesn’t move me and it’s exciting to see what artisans can pull off with enough money and time.

The ethics of being a billionaire are a topic of conversation for another type of website, but if you’ve got the money at least do something fun with it.

You Probably Don’t Want To Be A Stellantis Exec Right Now

I’m not allowed to do a Stellantis-led TMD for at least a few days because the company has become something like a punching bag lately. So you’re getting this as the second story today. See, David, I’m listening!

There’s a Stellantis board meeting in New York this week to talk about the future of the company and it’s probably an important one given that the company is in crisis and the board is already hinting that it’s looking for a new CEO. This means that CEO Carlos Tavares, pictured above, is going to have to explain what the company is going to do in order to survive this mess.

According to Bloomberg, that means an executive shakeup:

Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares is planning a deep management reshuffle in response to the automaker’s disastrous profit warning, according to people familiar with the situation.

Tavares may present his proposal at a board of directors meeting in the U.S. this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. The cuts could affect various departments, from finance teams to regional heads as well as brand executives, they said.

I don’t see a version of this meeting that doesn’t end with someone losing their job. The open question is whether or not the board accepts Tavares’s position that “he will stick to his mandate to the end and that the current headwinds “in no way” put his strategy in question.”

Chery Takes Over Former Mercedes, VW, And Nissan Plants

Remember when Russia was just a sometimes ornery trading partner that was slowly integrating itself into the global economy? Neither do I. Clearly underestimating the resolve of the brave Ukrainian people, Russia invaded Ukraine and tried to toss out its democratically elected government. A terrible, bloody war followed.

The international community reacted quickly and, due to sanctions and pressure, almost every Western company has pulled out of the country. Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Nissan in particular shut down and sold off what they could when they could.

Guess who filled the void? China. From Reuters:

Chinese carmakers have grabbed more than half of Russia’s car market in terms of sales since most Western counterparts abandoned the country following Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Now, they are extending their reach to account for more of Russia’s domestic production, too, highlighting how Beijing is playing a more influential role in Russia’s changing manufacturing landscape and economy since the invasion.

In addition to finished car imports into Russia, Chery, which makes up almost a fifth of Russia’s passenger car sales, is importing nearly finished cars and completing the assembly in three Russian factories, the people said.

Neither Russia, for pride reasons, nor China, for Western relations reasons, seem super pumped to talk about this.

Ratan Tata, Indian Industrialist, Dead At 86

Ratan Tata was one of the most influential Indian leaders of the last quarter-century at least, growing Tata Group from a national company to a global powerhouse.

As a car fan, you might know him as the guy whose company released the super cheap Tata Nano or, perhaps, as the company that purchased Jaguar Land Rover from Ford. The company’s reach extends far beyond just cars, including everything from Europe’s massive Corus steelmaker to British tea company Tetley.

His company announced this morning that Mr. Tata passed away:

It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr. Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation.

RIP to a real one.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

Not going to lie, the first time I heard “New Slang” from The Shins was probably on the Garden State soundtrack. I’m not sure how well the movie has held up, but this soundtrack is still bangers from coast-to-coast.

The Big Question

Which carmaker would you have make a bespoke car for you and what would you have them do?