The Goodwood plant serves as the headquarters, design, manufacturing and assembly centre for

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a British luxury automobile A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality (business), quality, performance, and social status, status relative to regular cars ...

. Officially opened on 1 January 2003, the plant is situated on a site covering . The plant has been expanded since. Over 1,700 workers are currently employed at Goodwood. At present (2017) the plant produces approximately 20 cars a day.

History

After

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, commonly referred to as BMW (), is a German multinational corporation which produces luxury vehicle A luxury car is a car A car (or automobile) is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transportation. Most def ...

BMW

bought the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand as applied to motor cars from

Vickers plc Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers-Armstrongs after the nationalisation of three of its four operating groups: aviation (as a 50% share since 1960 of British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1977), shipbuilding (Vickers Shipbuilding and Engin ...

, it required a new manufacturing plant in which to build the new cars. Rolls-Royce cars had until this time been built at the

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transferring passengers and ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to Energy transformation, convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel ...

, but both the plant and the

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs, and a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as B ...

Bentley

brand had been sold to the

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational Multinational may refer to: * Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries * Multinational force, a military bod ...

. BMW came to an agreement with the

Earl of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is the section of the Peerage of the British Isles for those peers creat ...

to buy a greenfield site on his

Goodwood EstateGoodwood may refer to: Events * Goodwood Festival of Speed, a motorsport event in the United Kingdom * Glorious Goodwood, a horseracing event in the United Kingdom * Goodwood Revival, a historical motorsport event in the United Kingdom Places an ...

, near

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publis ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county A county is a geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary The ''Chambers Dictionary'' (''TCD'') was first published by William Chambers (publisher), William an ...

. The original plant, located close to

Goodwood Circuit Goodwood Circuit is a historic venue for both two- and four-wheeled motorsport in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,Usage is mixed. The Guar ...

and

Westhampnett Westhampnett (or West Hampnett) is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), district of Chichester in West Sussex, England, located northeast of Chichester on the former A27 road, now by-passed. The village is pre-Norman and is h ...

village, cost £65 million. BMW engaged architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, the architect of the

Eden Project The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutena ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are ar ...

. Designed to fit into its environment, the plant cannot be viewed from the road, in part thanks to a 3.5

living roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a Waterproofing#Construction waterproofing, waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional la ...

" planted with

sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succulen ...

sedum

plants, the largest such roof in the UK. Other features help the 42-acre site blend in with the surrounding countryside, such as the planting of 400,000 plants and over 120 species of trees, as well as limestone and cedar cladding on the buildings. The plant is situated in an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; ; AHNE) is an area of rural area, countryside in England, Wales or Northern Ireland that has been designated for protected area, conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are design ...

, which may make further expansion difficult.

Technology and Logistics Centre

Rolls-Royce opened its new Technology and Logistics Centre (TLC) in January 2016. The facility is located in

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis is a town and seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based ...

, eight miles from the Goodwood plant. The TLC provides logistics support to the manufacturing plant for current and future models, and consolidates three operations: an inbound warehouse for production parts, a distribution centre – including an inbound body store and finished car store – and a workshop. The TLC will be extended in late-2017 by almost to meet growing demand and in readiness for future models, such as the Cullinan. The expansion will give the TLC the same overall footprint as the Goodwood plant.

Models produced

Rolls-Royce Ghost The Rolls-Royce Ghost is a full-sized luxury car manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The "Ghost" nameplate, named in honour of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Silver Ghost, a car first produced in 1906, was announced in April 2009 at the Auto ...

: 2009 - Present * Rolls-Royce Wraith: 2013 - Present *

Rolls-Royce Dawn The Rolls-Royce Dawn is a handmade 2+2 luxury convertible luxury grand tourer manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Rolls-Royce. It was announced at the International Motor Show Germany, 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a full-sized luxury saloon manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a British luxury automobile A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, ameniti ...

: 2017 - Present *

Rolls-Royce Cullinan The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is a full-sized luxury sport utility vehicle A sport utility vehicle or SUV is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground ...

: 2018 - Present

Former models produced

Rolls-Royce Phantom VII The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a full-sized luxury saloon car made by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a British luxury automobile A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities ...

: 2003–2016 *

Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé

: 2007–2016 * Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé: 2008–2016

References

External links

"A greener Goodwood" - Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwood Plant Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Buildings and structures in West Sussex Motor vehicle assembly plants in the United Kingdom Goodwood estate de:Rolls-Royce Motor Cars#Goodwood (seit 2003)