First New Model In 18 Years

The people of Crewe are as used to Rolls-Royces as to the railways on which their former prosperity was based. But in the past week, even Crewe has become less blasé about the car company that has put the towns name on the worlds motoring map. Rather than just the usual test vehicles, the Cheshire town has been awash with Rolls-Royces and Bentleys drafted in from every corner of Britain to ferry the 500 VIP customers invited to visit the factory from around the world.

While Crewe may seem an unlikely location for such a pilgrimage, the occasion is suitably special: for the first time in 18 years, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has a new saloon model. It is not just the novelty of the Silver Seraph (a Bentley version, to be called the Arnage, will follow) which is the draw. The new models represent a turning point for Britains biggest independent carmaker in more ways than one. For the first time, Rolls-Royce has opted to buy engines and technology from an outside source. BMW, the German carmaker that owns Rover, is supplying its beefy V12s for the Silver Seraph and V8s for the Bentley, along with a heap of engine-related equipment, such as management systems and air conditioning.

 

Even more important, Vickers, the UK engineering and industrial group, is poised to announce the buyer for its prestigious vehicles subsidiary, put on sale in November. The details remain under wraps, but most bets are on BMW.

Graham Morris, Rolls-Royce CEO, declines to comment on the takeover. Morris is much more comfortable talking about the changes that have transformed the plant from a ramshackle set of workshops into a sparkling car factory. After investing 40 million, the plant even boasts a moving assembly line for the new models - the first in Rolls-Royces history. So proud is the company of its modernised facilities that the Silver Seraph presentation concludes with curtains drawing back to reveal a panoramic view of production.

Many of the changes have come since Morriss arrival almost a year ago. The modernisation marked the other side of the trade-off which has transformed Rolls-Royce in recent months. While Vickers decided the company should economise by no longer making engines for the new cars, it also approved the creation of a body-welding shop, meaning Rolls-Royce could build its own bodies, rather than buying them from a Rover subsidiary.

The new welding shop is a prominent stop on the factory tours arranged for the 500 guests. The new bodies are not only cheaper, as Rolls-Royce no longer needs to buy bulk lots, but are 65 per cent more rigid than their predecessors. The assembly line is equally unfamiliar to visitors. Although its speed is glacial by motor industry standards, the lines introduction marks a belated move to mass production techniques. Many once-isolated functions, such as seat-making, have been moved alongside the appropriate point on the assembly line. It could lmost be Japanese. Mr Morris is also bullish when it comes to the future. Sales rose by more than 7 per cent to 1,918 units last year. The company is forecasting about 10 per cent annual growth for the next three years, taking sales to about 2,600 by early next century. Mr Morris claims to be unworried by either the economic crisis in Asia or the possibility of new competition in the Rolls-Royce league. At the Geneva motor show next week, Mercedes-Benz - another

potential buyer - is expected to show its Maybach luxury concept car for the first time in Europe. The company says the Maybach could go on sale in about 2001. Even BMWs affable boss, Bernd Pischetsrieder, has warned that his company could develop a product in the super-luxury segment if it fails to win Rolls-Royce. Mr Morris stays mum. But the word in Crewe is that he has been keeping up his German. Haig Simonian Copyright Financial Times Limited 1998.