"Unbelievably Young Customers" In China Push Rolls-Royce Image Overhaul

Youngest Rolls-Royce Buyer In World Is 28-Year-Old Chinese Entrepreneur The Financial Times "Beyond Brics" blog has an interesting article today about how buyer trends in China -- the world's largest auto market -- are effecting change in established brands like Rolls-Royce, not only in terms of their China strategy but also their broader global strategy. While we -- and many others -- have often gone back to the example of longer-wheelbase models by BMW, Mercedes-Benz and others, popular among China's chauffeur-happy upper-crust, consumer demographics in China are now pushing some of the world's top auto brands (some of which cater to predominantly older buyers) to consider revamping their image to appeal more to the country's young entrepreneurs. Now it seems that even Rolls-Royce -- despite already strong sales in China -- is not immune to this. From the FT: Rolls-Royce say that they are aiming for a fresher, more youthful brand image worldwide – largely because of the Chinese market. In an interview today, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce’s new chief executive, told the FT that China was due to replace the UK as Rolls’ second-biggest market after the US this year. While the brand’s customer base includes more than its fair share of Middle Eastern emirs and industrialists’ widows in Mayfair, in China a first-time buyer of a Rolls is likelier to be a self-made man — and a young one at that. Its youngest customer anywhere in the world is a Chinese entrepreneur aged 28. “I see unbelievably young customers in China”, Rolls’ boss told your correspondent. This makes China a pivotal market in an effort by BMW, which owns the brand, to overhaul its somewhat dowdy image. The article goes on to say that part of the new "youthful" Rolls strategy in China entails more airy, brighter showrooms and digital efforts such as promoting an iPhone app for the company's new Ghost sedan (its "cheapest" model, at $250,000) -- which Rolls debuted at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show and thinks could be a hit among China's well-heeled young elite, who tend to prefer personal driving.

Sectors

Insights

Company

"Unbelievably Young Customers" In China Push Rolls-Royce Image Overhaul