Proof the Rich Got Richer: Rolls-Royce Sees Best Sales Ever

From the outset of the pandemic, it quickly became clear that the effects wouldn’t just be medical, they’d be financial. Layoffs, furloughs and decreased hours became the norm, and we’re nowhere close to being out of the woods yet. But among the wealthiest people in the world, things have never been better.

That’s the main takeaway from the 35th annual Forbes Billionaires List, released this week, which shows the number of billionaires in the world increased by over 30% in the last year, and that “[a] staggering 86% are richer than a year ago.” Another sign the rich are getting richer? Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the first name in luxury automobiles, just reported its strongest sales quarter of all time.

“Rolls-Royce Motor Cars made a strong start to 2021, reflected today in our first quarter sales figures, which are the highest in our 116-year history,” CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said in a press release. “With robust order books across our product range, particularly for the new Ghost and Cullinan, sales growing in key markets and Bespoke commissions running at record levels, our business is in excellent shape.”

Specifically, the British automaker says sales are up 62% compared to the first quarter of 2020 (which isn’t all that surprising considering the coronavirus was already making its way around the world at that point), but they’re also greater than in 2019, the previous high point. But because we’re talking about Rolls-Royce, an extravagant marque for a well-heeled niche, the number of cars delivered was just 1,380.

However, as we pointed out in our recent looking behind the scenes at Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood home, their vehicles all start above $300,000, so you can do the math there.

If you’re not familiar with the Ghost and Cullinan models that are leading the automaker’s sales surge, the former is a recently reimagined version of their best-selling car ever, one that has been described as “Post Opulent,” while the latter is the brand’s massive SUV, a category that has been fruitful for a number of a luxury automakers, and one that Ferrari will soon join.