Rolls sees in new year with new plant

A new era for Britain's most celebrated motor marque, Rolls-Royce, begins today with the formal takeover of the brand by Germany's BMW and the opening of a £65m, purpose-built assembly plant in Goodwood, west Sussex.

Nearly 350 staff have been recruited to produce about 1,000 cars annually for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which has been established as a stand-alone UK subsidiary of the Munich-based group.

A new Rolls-Royce model - expected to retail at about £250,000 - will be unveiled tomorrow as part of a formal relaunch aimed at winning back glory to a brand tarnished by underinvestment and changes of ownership.

BMW takes control of the Rolls-Royce name from German rival VW under an agreement signed in July 1998.

VW will keep the Bentley brand, continuing to produce cars at its base in Crewe after about £600m worth of investment. BMW now holds a 10% stake in the Rolls-Royce aero-engine business.

The new four-door Rolls-Royce saloon has been designed and developed in Britain and Germany in secrecy under the codename RR 01.

It is an unashamedly upmarket vehicle aimed at the rich and famous, and it will compete against other luxury purchases such as yachts and holiday homes as much as other super-posh vehicles such as DaimlerChrysler's Maybach or VW's Phaeton.

Major sections of the car will be built in Munich but assembled at the plant near Chichester, less than 10 miles from the West Wittering home of company co-founder Sir Frederick Henry Royce.

BMW will use for testing and trials the refurbished Goodwood race track which is - like the factory - on land owned by Lord March, the future Duke of Richmond.

The cars are mainly hand- built with only four robots in use at Sussex. These are used in the paint shop to save staff being exposed to potential health hazards, the company claims.

Rolls-Royce is being headed up by a British chairman and chief executive, Tony Gott, who has transferred with the company name, with which he has been associated for 18 years.