Why the Rolls-Royce Spectre isn’t a funky electric car

CALL Torsten Muller-Otvos by the acronym “TMO” and he might not mind. “It’s like my brand,” he says with a broad grin. But he might as well be “Mr Rolls-Royce” instead, for all the ways the storied car company has evolved – and flourished – under his leadership as chief executive officer since April 2010.

Without diluting the brand’s hallowed image, he grew its sales to a record 6,000 cars last year. The customisation service that he fostered, Bespoke, rakes in ever more money per car while making clients feel like their cars are unique art pieces.

Black Badge – the brand’s label for its edgy, sporty trim line – has helped demolish the idea that Rolls-Royces are fuddy-duddy machines for chauffeurs. Amazingly, Rolls’ clientele is now the most youthful of any brand within the BMW Group, even younger than Mini customers.