When you think about the typical Rolls-Royce owner, what comes to mind? If you’re imagining an older gentlemen who has lived a long and prosperous life, you’re surprisingly wrong.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös revealed the average age of owners is just 45 years old. This is an eleven year drop from just seven years ago.
As Müller-Ötvös explained, “We are seeing, in that segment of ultra high-end-growth individuals, a fast decrease in average age. It’s fantastic, it really is.”
Rolls-Royce’s clientele is younger than most other premium brands as Kelley Blue Book says the typical BMW owner is 50, while Mercedes owners average 51 years old. Archrival Bentley reported its owners averaged 56.2 years old in 2014 but that number has likely gone down in the past few years.
The influx of younger buyers is a boon for Rolls-Royce as they have the potential to become repeat customers for several decades. Younger buyers also help to improve the image of the brand as few people want to be seen driving an ‘old person’s car.’
Rolls-Royce’s decline in ownership age is due in part to self-made millionaires. According to Müller-Ötvös, “It’s not any longer inherited money. The majority is all self-generated money in very young people who are already making fortunes, be it real estate, be it engineering, be it IT, be it Western entertainment, whatever.”
To help attract younger buyers, Rolls-Royce introduced the Wraith as well as the performance-oriented Black Badge variants.
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