Last week when I was attending the unveiling of their Vision 100 concept reveal in London, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös had this to say about yesterday’s Brexit vote and the impact Britain’s leaving the EU might have on Rolls-Royce.
“First of all, it is up to the Brits to make that judgement here next Thursday. They are voting. It’s quite an important vote. Number two, when it comes to pure commercial questions, for our business here then we think that it would be more beneficial for the UK to stay in the European Union. And number three is, we haven’t made up any plan B yet for what happens. If it happens, we will take a look into it and then we will make a plan because nothing will change overnight. It will take some time. And then we go. Then we look into what we need to do and how to act. That’s the strategy.”
“90% of all our volume is exported from here. 90% of all our cars are exported all over the world. And of course, we also import a lot of parts out of the European community into the UK. For that reason we also trade with all the other European countries, so be it Italy, be it Germany, be it France. So quite a substantial part of our cars, roughly 20% of our cars are then exported to the European Union. For that reason, it’s better that Britain stay in. But if there is a vote to go out, we will take a view if and when it happens.”
So, while the vote won’t immediately impact the world’s leading luxury automotive brand, it’s clear changes are on the horizon. Stay tuned and we’ll let you know how the Brexit vote will change Rolls-Royce and our other favorite British brands.