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Recently, according to media reports, Rolls-Royce CEO Toston Muller Utterworth is about to retire and will be replaced by Chris Brownridge, the current chief executive of BMW UK. The appointment will take effect on December 1, 2023.

Relevant information shows that Toston has rich experience in the marketing of automotive products and projects. He joined BMW Group as head of the marketing project department in 1989, and then served as head of BMW Group's product strategy department, deputy director of international market and trend research, director of MINI automotive brand strategy and product management, and senior vice president of BMW Group product after-sales management. Tom, then CEO of Rolls-Royce, officially took over as CEO of Rolls-Royce at the end of March 2010. Mr. Bovis retired from office. Since Toston became Rolls-Royce CEO, Rolls-Royce sales have also improved qualitatively, up sixfold from about 1000 in 2009 to more than 6000 in 2022.

The incoming Chris Brown Ritchie also worked for the BMW Group for many years, serving as a member of the BMW UK board, BMW UK sales director, BMW UK marketing director and MINI UK and Ireland regional director.

Toston said on his retirement: "it is the greatest honor of my career to lead Rolls-Royce in the past 14 years." It is an extraordinary adventure to help Rolls-Royce and its world-class employees grow to where they are today and put them at the top of the luxury industry. I am proud of this outstanding team and the role I have played in this remarkable development. "

Rolls-Royce was founded in 1906 as a British luxury carmaker famous for producing some of the most unique cars in the world. In the 1950s, Rolls-Royce began a long-term partnership with the royal family, which made Rolls-Royce popular as a status symbol and proud of owning one. In the 1990s, Rolls-Royce was acquired by BMW Group. With luxurious status symbols and elaborate customization, no matter how expensive the Rolls-Royce is, with an average price of 4 million, it has failed to reduce the enthusiasm of car owners. According to relevant data, Rolls-Royce delivered 6021 vehicles worldwide in 2022, with sales exceeding 6000 for the first time, an increase of 8 per cent over the same period last year. Rolls-Royce China sold 1634 vehicles in 2022, down 19 from the same period last year.

Sales in China, the second-largest market for Rolls-Royce, fell amid global sales growth. Of course, this may have something to do with the rise of new energy vehicles in China. Although Rolls-Royce launched the pure electric car "Shining" in October last year, the new car is positioned as a two-door four-seater sports car, based on Rolls-Royce's all-aluminum "luxury architecture", using the new SPIRIT software architecture and fully equipped with Rolls-Royce Whispers interconnection services. the new car will be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year at a price of 5.75 million yuan. However, due to the impact of domestic new energy vehicles, the traditional handmade concept is no longer popular, and it takes a long time to pick up the car. Some domestic netizens once commented: "Flash has been booked, but the car will not be picked up until 2025."

In July, Rolls-Royce announced that customers who immediately changed hands after buying its new electric car would be permanently blacklisted and would no longer be allowed to buy any Rolls-Royce models. The matter has also attracted the attention of netizens on the Internet. In response, officials said they would not tolerate such behavior as disrespect for brands and customers who really love their cars. Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos once revealed: "using it as a means of transportation is not and will never be the decision behind the purchase of Rolls-Royce, because the buyer will have a lot of cars, and Rolls-Royce is just a jewel in the garage." As to whether the production of streetcars will damage the brand image, Torsten Muller-Otvos also responded: "No, because we are not in the auto industry, although it sounds ridiculous, we are in the luxury business."

It is understood that Rolls-Royce plans to achieve full electrification in 2030, but although Rolls-Royce has already begun to layout electrification, but its electrification process is not fast. According to related information: rolls-Royce launched the pure electric concept model as early as 10 years ago. In 2011, Rolls-Royce created the phantom experimental electric car based on the phantom 102 EXMAL 2016. Rolls-Royce once again launched the second pure electric car codenamed 103EX, whose full name is Vision Next 100. However, due to factors such as vehicle mileage, charging speed, and battery life problems, neither of the two electric vehicles was finally able to be mass produced. Some people in the industry have pointed out that the electrification of ultra-luxury brands is slow, or they are worried that electrification will change the advantages of their own brands. After all, the introduction of electrified products in a short period of time will make the level of ultra-luxury cars can not be guaranteed, and even spend a lot of money to develop products on a par with the new power products that already exist on the market, so it is easy to lose the original characteristics of the brand.

However, the automobile industry is concerned that with the increasingly fierce competition for new energy vehicles, many car companies are also launching luxury electric vehicles one after another, and it is better to speed up the transformation rather than doing nothing, so that they can have a place in the luxury new energy market.

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