Rolls-Royce CEO "very optimistic" about Chinese market
Source: Xinhua | 2020-09-03
China will become Rolls-Royce Motor Cars' biggest market in the near future and "I'm very optimistic" about it, the company's CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes has said.
The global car industry is enduring difficult times due to coronavirus, from which Rolls-Royce is not immune. "But the Chinese market is surprisingly good and I'm very satisfied with it," Mueller-Oetvoes told Xinhua in a recent interview.
On Tuesday, Rolls-Royce launched a new Ghost model, which the company said is its most high-tech model by far. Mueller-Oetvoes described it as a historic moment which happened "at the right time".
When talking about the impact of COVID-19, he admitted that the luxury sector is dampened by consumer sentiment. "It might be two or three years before the demand going back to the previous level," he said.
However, the order intake is "very positive currently" and "encouraging" from China, some of the Asian and European countries, he added.
Mueller-Oetvoes is very pleased with the company's performance in the Chinese market, for life is steadily returning to normal with consumer confidence increasing.
China's luxury car segment was hit by COVID-19 early this year but has now posted growth for four consecutive months since April. China's luxury car sector is expected to perform well in the third quarter, according to a China Automobile Dealers Association report.
Last year, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has delivered a historic annual sales record, with a total of 5,152 cars being delivered to customers in over 50 countries around the world, among which China ranks the second following North America.
"China might become our biggest market this year," he said, adding that there will be "a very close race between the U.S. and Chinese market".
Mueller-Oetvoes's optimism in the Chinese market comes from the big market size and the loyal, well-educated Chinese clients who are super savvy with luxury cars.
Meanwhile, the demand for electric vehicles, or EVs, are rising, partly driven by the coronavirus pandemic. A study by Venson Automotive Solutions shows that 45 percent of people have reconsidered switching to electric vehicles as a result of the radical improvement on air pollution due to demobilization of transport amid COVID-19.
Luxury car brands like Rolls-Royce has it own plan to go electric.
"Our brand will go fully electric step by step," Mueller-Oetvoes said. "We will see the first full electric Rolls Royce coming in this decade."
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