An Open Letter From Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

The legendary luxury motor car brand, Rolls-Royce, will soon be launching a new model in the autumn season of 2020. The new model is the new RR Ghost. The first-ever Goodwood Ghost was launched in 2009 and is the most successful model in Rolls-Royce’s 116-year history.

As the final preparations are being made for the reveal of the new Ghost, the marque’s Chief Executive Officer, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, has prepared an open letter, which is attached.

An Open Letter

27th July 2020

Dear Reader,

The launch of a new Rolls-Royce is unquestionably an historic moment. However, presenting a new Ghost carries with it tremendous responsibility. Our new Ghost, which will debut in the Autumn, follows the first ever Goodwood Ghost, which, since its launch in 2009 has become the most successful model in the marque’s 116-year history. Indeed, such was its timeless appeal, it enjoyed a lifespan of more than a decade. A truly remarkable achievement.

As we reached the final development stages of this our new product, we were faced with the coronavirus pandemic. This invisible enemy cast a grave and stubborn shadow on the world. At Rolls-Royce, we kept our spirits up. With the utmost focus on the wellbeing of our people at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, and around the world, we carefully and responsibly continued work on finalising this remarkable motor car. The experience reminded us that Rolls-Royce, with the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy at its prow, has endured with resilience and continues to serve as a symbol of ambition and endeavour.

To create a product that would resonate with our Ghost clients for the next ten years meant that we had to listen very carefully to their demands and desires. And we did so. They told us that they very much enjoyed Ghost’s versatility and breadth of character. It is a car they enjoyed driving themselves – or to be driven in should the occasion call for a chauffeur. They also appreciated the car’s pared-back simplicity, or as they put it, “a slightly smaller, less ostentatious means to own a Rolls-Royce”.

Going further, our clients expressed an ardent desire for even more minimalism in design. This demand resonated with findings of our Luxury Intelligence Unit and designers at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex who, for some years had been tracking an emerging contemporary movement within a particular layer of luxury consumers, which included our Ghost clients, and which we called ‘Post Opulence’. We found that these clients are showing a marked tendency towards luxury objects that celebrate reduction and restraint – that don’t shout, but rather, whisper. They are seeking design purity by rejecting obvious and unnecessary embellishments and overt complication. To complement this minimalism, our Ghost clients require innovative but effortless technology and real engineering substance in their car.

Of course, there will always be a place in this world, and at Rolls-Royce, for items and products of opulence that express the very best of human endeavour, inspire greatness and present a sense of theatre and magic. But we at Rolls-Royce remain alert for any signs of a recalibration of need within layers of the global luxury marketplace.

And so, five years ago, we set about the creation of our new Ghost. And such was the task that the only components we deemed fit to carry over were the Spirit of Ecstasy and umbrellas. Everything else is entirely new. The car has been designed, engineered, and crafted from the ground up at our Global Centre of Luxury Manufacturing Excellence in Goodwood, West Sussex, to answer the express wishes and desires of a post-opulent group of clients.

Ghost is the purest expression of Rolls-Royce yet. It distils the pillars of our brand into a beautiful, minimalist, yet highly complex product that is perfectly in harmony with our Ghost clients’ needs and, I believe, perfectly in tune with the times in which we are all living.

Rolls-Royce will always continue driving forward. Our company will be neither defined nor limited by the temporary constraints of the times. We will continue planning for a better tomorrow with positivity and hope, striving for perfection and producing powerful symbols that inspire greatness and ambition.

In this spirit, we invite you to experience our new Ghost in the next few months. More details of this historic moment will follow over the coming weeks, beginning with a series of four beautiful animations, detailing rare insights into the lifestyles and behaviour of our Ghost client layer, and the tremendous technical substance underpinning what we believe is the most sublime expression of Rolls-Royce yet. These informative pieces will culminate in a fully digital debut of new Ghost to be followed by numerous client, media and public events around the world.

Thank you.

Stay Safe and Keep Your Spirits Up!