Rolls Royce reveals record sales figures

Rolls-Royce has revealed a record set of sales figures for 2013 in its latest financial update, which was released today (January 9th).

The luxury car manufacturer added that 3,630 of its cars were delivered to customers in 2013, which was a 1.5 per cent increase on the figures for 2012.

"We have reported a strong year and have maintained our position at the pinnacle of the super-luxury market," said Torsten Muller-Otvos, chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Rolls-Royce is now planning to expand its workforce in the coming weeks by adding 100 staff at its manufacturing plant in Goodwood, Sussex in 2014.

Last year included the launch of the new Wraith model by Rolls-Royce and the manufacturer started delivering these models to its customers in the final quarter.

Areas of growth

Rolls-Royce announced in its new trading update that the strongest sales growth was seen in the Middle East, with the firm able to record a rise in sales of 17 per cent. China was another strong area of growth for the company last year, with sales increasing by 11 per cent.

More than 1,300 staff are already employed by the manufacturer, which took on an extra 100 employees during the course of 2013 as it expanded its workforce strongly.

Despite announcing new record sales for the year as a whole, the share price of Rolls-Royce is slightly down in the early stages of trading this morning. By 08:41 GMT, its stocks were down by 0.23 per cent – a fall of just three points – compared to the start of the day. Shares were selling for 1,282.00, which is close to the firm's 52-week high for its stocks of 1,294.00.

Rolls-Royce is one of the major success stories of the UK's manufacturing sector and its rising sales could be taken as a sign that the global economy is on the rise, as sales of its luxury models have still been increasing despite the after-effects of the recession.

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