Autocar October 19, 2022

GENERAL MOTORS is like a family member (or two): loved, but difficult. Its Corvette and Cadillac brands have spearheaded the archetypal American dream across the globe for many decades while, closer to home, it was the safe keeper (until it wasn’t) of Vauxhall, which always continued to be seen as a British brand, despite GM buying it in 1925. In recent times, it hasn’t been such a pretty picture for GM, not least demonstrated by Vauxhall’s new owner, Stellantis, rapidly turning around the flailing brand in a way that GM had so blatantly failed to do. Now GM is on a new path, as James Attwood writes on p40. Importantly for us, it means the Detroit-based giant is well under way with a European (including UK) comeback that is more credible than…

The new Rolls-Royce Spectre will be launched next year as the British luxury brand’s first electric production car, promising refinement and performance on a par with – if not superior to – today’s combustion-powered models while introducing bold new design cues and advanced technical capabilities. Based on Rolls-Royce’s aluminium Architecture of Luxury platform – and thus unrelated to parent company BMW’s range-topping EVs – the Spectre arrives as part of a rapid-fire electrification initiative that will result in the West Sussex firm phasing out its V12 engine and selling only electric cars from 2030. Company CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told Autocar that, in this sense, the Spectre is as important as the 1906 Silver Ghost – Rolls-Royce’s first production effort, hailed by Autocar’s contemporary road testers as “the best car in the world”. Available…

GENERAL MOTORS is like a family member (or two): loved, but difficult. Its Corvette and Cadillac brands have spearheaded the archetypal American dream across the globe for many decades while, closer to home, it was the safe keeper (until it wasn’t) of Vauxhall, which always continued to be seen as a British brand, despite GM buying it in 1925. In recent times, it hasn’t been such a pretty picture for GM, not least demonstrated by Vauxhall’s new owner, Stellantis, rapidly turning around the flailing brand in a way that GM had so blatantly failed to do. Now GM is on a new path, as James Attwood writes on p40. Importantly for us, it means the Detroit-based giant is well under way with a European (including UK) comeback that is more…

The new Rolls-Royce Spectre will be launched next year as the British luxury brand’s first electric production car, promising refinement and performance on a par with – if not superior to – today’s combustion-powered models while introducing bold new design cues and advanced technical capabilities. Based on Rolls-Royce’s aluminium Architecture of Luxury platform – and thus unrelated to parent company BMW’s range-topping EVs – the Spectre arrives as part of a rapid-fire electrification initiative that will result in the West Sussex firm phasing out its V12 engine and selling only electric cars from 2030. Company CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told Autocar that, in this sense, the Spectre is as important as the 1906 Silver Ghost – Rolls-Royce’s first production effort, hailed by Autocar’s contemporary road testers as “the best car in…

Rolls-Royce remains ardently committed to its Sussex-based staff and production operations, pledging to stay true to its British roots – even as it ushers in radically different technologies and caters to soaring global demand. The firm’s Goodwood site employs more than 2000 people and is set to expand further as it nudges the upper limits of its production capacity, with a record-breaking 5586 cars leaving the gates in 2021. But Goodwood and its staff will remain central to any expansion plans, according to CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “I would never give this up,” he said, referring to the firm’s ‘Britishness’, “and I can tell you our clients love that we are based in West Sussex.” After the pandemic, he said, there was huge demand from clients to visit Goodwood, reinforcing the brand’s position…

Rolls-Royce remains ardently committed to its Sussex-based staff and production operations, pledging to stay true to its British roots – even as it ushers in radically different technologies and caters to soaring global demand. The firm’s Goodwood site employs more than 2000 people and is set to expand further as it nudges the upper limits of its production capacity, with a record-breaking 5586 cars leaving the gates in 2021. But Goodwood and its staff will remain central to any expansion plans, according to CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “I would never give this up,” he said, referring to the firm’s ‘Britishness’, “and I can tell you our clients love that we are based in West Sussex.” After the pandemic, he said, there was huge demand from clients to visit Goodwood, reinforcing the…