Rolls Royce, a luxurious brand, is the one on which everybody has eyes but is hard to get. The company was founded in 1904, by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in Manchester, United Kingdom. Let’s know about Rolls Royce SWOT Analysis And Competitors.
Initially started as a luxurious car brand, it diversified its business and started manufacturing aero-engine with the First World War. Thus, Rolls Royce provided premium cars and engines for defense and civil aircraft.
In 1998, it became a subsidiary of another renowned brand in cars, BMW. Since 2003, Rolls Royce Motors Cars Limited has been the exclusive manufacturer of Rolls Royce cars. Torsten Müller-Ötvös took charge as the CEO in 2010, with a pledge to control the damage caused to the brand. Since the company has been working on various parameters to grow and prosper.
The company manufactures the following models:
- Phantom
- Ghost
- Wraith
- Dawn
- Cullinan
SWOT analysis is a crucial tool to analyze the performance of a business or a company (here Rolls Royce). The tool analyses the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) that impact the performance of a business.
Strengths
Rolls Royce is a century-old brand, making opulent cars since its establishment in 1904. Not much has changed since then, except the designs that have evolved over the years. The company maintains its brand image and has been working hard towards growth and success. There are legion strengths that describe the position which it has maintained over the years. Some of the company’s strengths are listed below:
- Brand Image and Value
Rolls Royce is a brand admired all around the world. It has, over the years, strengthened its position as a necessity of the elite class. The opulent cars with a royal look, the company offers to sell, give high performance and quality for which they often charge an exorbitant price. The revenue generated by the company was approximately $940 million in the previous year, suggesting its high performance.
- Investment in Research and Development
The company invests highly in terms of time, money, and skills in research and development to provide the best services to the customers. These customers spent a lot more on luxury than on anything else.
- Global Presence
Rolls Royce, an almost a century-old brand, has provided the most luxurious cars ever since its establishment. The company has a presence in more than 50 countries. Additionally, it is currently serving customers in almost 180 countries. Its pan-world presence is evidence of how much the brand is valued worldwide.
- Competent Workforce
The company has one of the most competent workforces, be it in the stores or the ones working on the designs and improving performance, giving no chance of raising any question on their efficiency and competence.
- Support from the Parent Company
Rolls Royce has gained massive support from the parent company, which has proven to be fruitful for enhancing manufacturing systems and performance. It also helped the company in technological improvements.
- Astounding Designs
Rolls Royce has always come up with such astounding designs that are the epitome of grandeur. Both the exterior and interiors of the cars are designed keeping in mind the preferences of the customers. The most skilled designers of this field are appointed, specifically to serve this purpose.
Weaknesses
The strengths and weaknesses are like the two faces of a coin. Rolls Royce, despite having robustness, has some significant shortcomings, which need to be worked upon. Some of the weaknesses of the company include:
- Evolution of Designs
The designs of Rolls Royce’s cars have an evolutionary nature because of which most of its designs have little or no distinction at all. This induces many of its customers to resort to other luxurious car manufacturers which offer greater variance with competent prices.
- Status Symbol
The brand has developed its name among the elite of the elite. Every well-off person wants to buy it, while the people of the middle and lower classes cannot afford to buy it or even dream of it.
- Small Target Group
The company’s target audience is the elite class which is, however, small in number. This causes a heavy dependence on a small group of people for repeated purchases. Moreover, there is a saturation point where the customer even after having the money d to buy. Therefore, it is necessary for the company to either ease the massive restrictions or bring down the price of its cars.
Opportunities
Globalization has opened a deep ocean of opportunities for companies like Rolls Royce. There exist several opportunities in the way of the company, it can exploit to the fullest to generate additional revenue and profits. Some of these opportunities are:
- Introduction of Automatic Cars
With the changing times and advancing technologies, increasing emphasis on automation provides an enormous opportunity for the company. Further, there has been a lot of research on self-driven cars that can further bring a revolution in the car industry.
- Customized/Personalized Cars
The target audience of Rolls Royce is the super-rich class which can pay any amount for the luxury and the taste that suits its needs. There lies a great opportunity for the companies, especially for Rolls Royce, if they make customized cars that can help them extract any amount from their customers.
- Best use of Technology
In today’s era of stiff competition, it has become indispensable to make the best possible use of technology so the company can come up with some incredible innovations. It can help the company fetch more prices for the innovations, especially from the rich.
- Shift to Hybrid Vehicles
With the growing environmental concerns, there lies a great opportunity in the field of hybrid and environment-friendly measures which apart from adding to the company’s revenue can also be one remembered as bringing in the revolution.
Threats
Every company apart from having strengths and weaknesses has some external threats too to its survival and its growth which need to be addressed from time to time. Some of these threats that Rolls Royce faces are as follows:
- Regressive Policies and Taxation
In many countries, such luxurious goods are often highly taxed carrying a large sum apart from the high price of the car. Moreover, many countries have imposed restrictions and regulations which may further discourage the buying of these products.
- High Prices
The services provided by the company are extremely expensive. The rising prices of fuel also add to the problem. This has also caused a shift from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles.
- Stiff Competition
The company faces stiff competition from various other big multinationals such as BMW, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes, etc as these companies offer highly designed cars giving high performance at competitive prices.
- Sustainability Issues
The growing populations have necessitated the need for a sustainable transportation system. However, despite much research and recent developments, there is still room for advancements in this field. This includes a shift to cleaner fuels and electric cars and vehicles.
Various Competitors of Rolls Royce
There are a lot of players in the luxury car manufacturing industry. Therefore, there are innumerable competitors of Rolls Royce which include:
- Audi
Audi is one of the biggest competitors of Rolls Royce. The company based in Germany is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group. With a revenue of $73.1 billion, Audi is way ahead of Rolls Royce in terms of profits and revenue. The company is also known for its perfectly crafted designs and poses a great threat to the company. Markus Duesmann is the current CEO of the company.
- Bentley
Bentley is another brand in the business of manufacturing luxurious cars and SUVs. The company was founded by W.O. Bentley in 1919 in North London and has been a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998. The company has been known for its excellent models since the early 20th century. Some of these models include the historic sports-racing Bentley 4 ½ Litre and Bentley Speed Six. Some of the most recent models include Bentley Turbo R, Bentley Amage, Flying Spur, etc. Therefore, the company poses a potential threat to Rolls Royce.
- Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz, commonly known as Mercedes is yet another German automotive brand with the highest revenue of about $121 billion among the car manufacturing companies. The company manufactures luxury cars and commercial vehicles such as vans, buses, etc. The earliest vehicles manufactured under the company’s name dates back to 1926 and are currently a subsidiary of Daimler AG. The company sold approximately 2.31 million cars becoming the largest seller of prime cars in the year 2018. The current CEO of Mercedes-Benz is Ola Källenius, who is also the chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG. All the above-mentioned points are the points that put Rolls Royce into a situation to reevaluate its policies and framework to bag the No.1 position in the industry.
- Porsche
Porsche AG or in simple words, Porsche is another well-known automotive marquee based in Germany. It is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group with average revenue of $35.3 billion. It is known for its SUVs, amazing sports cars, and sedans. Some of its models include the 718 Boxster/Cayman, Panamera, Macan, Cayenne, and Taycan. Oliver Blume is currently serving as the CEO of the company. It is one of the companies on which Rolls Royce needs to keep a check.
- BMW
Yet another German car multinational, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or BMW was founded in 1916. The brand is well-known for its high-performance cars and especially for its sports car models. The company manufactures several models which are famous for their engines and suspension apart from the designs. The current CEO of the company is Olive Zipse who replaced Harald Krüger in August 2019. The company generated revenue of around €98.5 billion thus posing a threat to Rolls Royce.
Conclusion
Rolls Royce is a premium brand that is often known for its more emphasis on quality and brand instead of money, revenue, and profits. The fine exterior and interior of the various models such as Phantom, Ghost, Wraith, Dawn, etc are the ones that leave everybody awestruck. The high performance of the cars is an add-on to its royalty. Cars can be found in almost every part of the world due to the esteem it has earned over the years. The highly qualified and technical staff has undoubtedly provided some of the best designs over the years that are appreciated all around the world. The fact that it is one of the most wanted cars among the elites is proof of the high brand value and image that Rolls Royce has.
Despite the number of strengths the company has, there are many weaknesses too which the company needs to overcome. These include an increase in the consumer base by either decreasing the prices or the regulation policies. The other main issue that the company needs to address is coming up with some new models and giving up on its evolutionary models as these models look more or less similar.
However, there lie many opportunities that can bring a positive change in the position of the company. The growing technology and demand for innovations for which the consumers are willing to pay any amount create enough opportunity for the company to exploit technology to its fullest and extract returns. The system of self-driven cars and automation can bring a revolution. Rolls Royce can also work on going green and can also earn its place in the market of electric vehicles which are expected to see a huge future demand. While keeping other issues at abeyance, the policies and regulations of various countries also play a role in the demand and supply of such luxurious goods. Moreover, the company faces stiff competition from multinational firms such as Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, Porsche, Ferrari, etc.
In the end, it can be easily concluded that Rolls Royce is a huge brand with immense brand value. It has an amalgam of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats which the company needs to balance off to grow.
