Rolls Royce, the legend

We saw in a previous article that Rolls-Royce built its legend through time, in the evolution of its models. However, some other facts contributed to the myth.

In the 1950s, the Royal family made Rolls-Royce their official car. Indeed, princess Elizabeth broke the tradition and left Daimler cars for the Phantom IV. This model was designed for Head of State and only 18 of them were made. It is one of the rarest car in the world.

Princess Elizabeth in her Phantom IV

Such a recognition influenced the perception of the general public over the brand.The Great Britain Royal Family, with the tradition it represents, is in some way associated to childhood fairy-tales about royal families. Rolls-Royce's car became quickly associated to the "dream car", the "fairy-tale car", the one you associate to special moments.This can also explain why old Rolls-Royce models are rented for weddings.

Kate Middleton and Prince William's wedding

A Rolls-Royce buyer wants to be treated as a member of the Royal family as if the car would be designed and made especially for him. 

Rolls-Royce's special care in details enforced the perception of their car as unique and rare. Indeed, the coach-line painting is hand-made and can be customized at will by the client. The materials are extremely luxurious and the leather of the seats is hand-sewn. 

The quality of the conception is also well-known and their timeless savoir-faire contributed to the legend. To enforce this perception, Rolls-Royce knows how to turn back to the past to extract the very best of it. In 2012, it presented three models at the Paris Motor Show in celebration of the brand beginnings with the typical timeless design, colors and motifs of the Art Deco movement which inspired the models of the 1920s and 30s. The three major actual models of Rolls-Royce (the Phantom, the Drophead Coupé and the Ghost) were redesigned especially for the occasion.

The Ghost in the Art Deco style

"We have elegantly captured the essence of one of the great periods in 20th Century design." says Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive at Rolls-Royce. The brand knows how to please and remind elegantly to their competitors that they were making amazing cars before others were even born. 

Rolls-Royce, the design, the history

We cannot talk about Rolls-Royce without a glimpse of its long history. It began in May 1904 : more than a century ago, Charles Rolls, a car dealership owner and and Sir Henry Royce an engineer, had lunch together and decided to create Rolls-Royce Limited.... they may not have expected to create such a legendary brand.

Their very first car they created was the Silver Ghost in 1907. Its original design will influence their creation through time. Indeed, the strength of Rolls-Royce is their consistency through years : consistency in their design, in their values and in their conception.

The original Silver Ghost put the basis of Rolls-Royce's design. The Spirit of Ecstasy (the little silver mascot) evolved through time and became more pure in its lines but stayed the same in a way. The radiator grill definitely represents Rolls-Royce's cars and will be found in every model for more than hundred years. The spare wheels at the front of the car was kept in the design of the new Phantom series in the 1930s. 

The Phantom II

In the 1940s, the brand came back to the Silver series with the Wraiths and the Dawn. The new designer H.J. Mulliner made the spare wheel disappear but the influence of the Phantom series lines was still easily recognizable. This testifies the consistency will of Rolls-Royce. 

The Silver Dawn

Rolls-Royce takes also a special care to the engine improvements. In 1955, the Silver Cloud was capable of a maximum speed of 170 km/h using a 6-cylinder engine. It was designed by J.P. Blatchley : longer, less square, responding to the 1950s trend. 

The Silver Cloud

The end of the 1950s decade saw the revival of the Phantom series, and the beginning of the "Rolls-Royce phenomena" with a new category of buyers in the 1960s : celebrities. Omar Sharif, Ingrid Bergman, Rex Harrisson and John Lennon were seen with their Phantom. 

The Camargue in 1970s and the Silver Spirit in 1980s are representing the trends of their decades while trying to keep the Rolls-Royce design and special characteristics. The Camargue was the first Rolls-Royce designed to fit metric dimensions which would help its exportation abroad. 

The Camargue

The 1990s decade was really important in Rolls-Royce history as it is in this decade that the brand was bought by BMW. The models to come would clearly translate the influence of the German brand over the British one even if special efforts were made to keep some key characteristics of Rolls-Royce.

The Corniche : the influence of BMW

The 2000s showed a focus on the engine in order to create "the best car in the world" and they came back to the Phantom Series. However, Rolls-Royce would never leave aside their customer-centered value in the creation of a new model. As an example, the Drophead Coupé's high performances were coupled to an amazing silence of the engine in order to never disturb the discussion that would take place inside the car.

The Drophead Coupé

Rolls-Royce also takes an extreme care in the conception of the car's inside features. Exotic materials, pure lines, simplicity and high technology... Every characteristics of a high luxury good. 

Ghost's interior focus

The Rolls-Royce brand created its legend through both evolution and consistency. Few brand can brag about the fact that they managed to stay at a top level for more than a hundred years. They did. And they stayed humble about it, keeping their customer happy and proud.

Please visit : http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/history/

Why is Lamborghini such a special brand on this market?

We already have a pretty precise idea of what a brand’s identity is being built upon. It takes shape in the purpose around the making of cars, in the brand’s history and its racing pedigree, especially for a brands making cars as performing as Ferrari or Porsche.

                However, Lamborghini does not have a racing pedigree as prestigious as its rivals. It never won a major racing championship, made an unsuccessful attempt as an engine manufacturer in Formula 1 in the early 1990s[1]. So how come Lamborghini makes people dream as much as its neighbor from Maranello?

                Firstly, we can find the answer in its history. Lamborghini was founded and guided during its first years by one charismatic man: Ferruccio Lamborghini. He may not be as well-known as Enzo Ferrari of, but he also is a self-made man. Ferruccio Lamborghini first founded Lamborghini as a tractor company in 1948. Quickly, he became a successful businessman and eventually managed in 1963 to realize his dream: building his own sports cars[2].

Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993)

                He quickly targeted Ferrari as his arch rival, gathering around him well known engineers as Gianpaolo Dallara or designers like Francesco Scaglione from Bertone. The first car they produced, the 350GT did not meet the expected success[3]. But 5 years later, in 1968, the Miura went even further in terms of aggressive design, performance and style. It is considered as one of the very first “supercars”².

The Lamborghini Miura

                The following years were bitter for Ferruccio Lamborghini. The oil shock puts the company in trouble because its cars were not made with fuel consumption concerns in mind. He sold the first 51% of the company to a Swiss businessman, and the further 49% in 1974 to René Leimer[4].The company was then administrated by different people because of financial difficulties (despite the new Countach to replace the Miura) until Chrysler bought Lamborghini in 1987. The American company invested $50 million and created a motorsport division, mainly to make F1 engines, while the Diablo was being designed to replace the Countach⁴.

The Countach (foreground) and the Diablo SV

                However, Chrysler sold the company in 1994 as the sales dropped and the F1 program proved to be a failure; to an Indonesian company: MegaTech. MegaTech then sold the company once again because of the Asian crisis in 1998 to Audi[5].

                All the different owners have kept a tradition that is part of the brand’s identity. Lamborghini is linked to the bullfighting world[6]. The Miura was named after a famous fighting bull bred. Some concept-cars, like the Estoque or the Espada were also named after bullfighting-related terms. Murcielago is the name of a famous bull in bullfighting history, so is Reventon. The logo of the brand itself is raging bull⁴.

The Raging Bull

    

                Audi’s takeover of the company is a big milestone in Lamborghini’s history. It provided the stability necessary for Lamborghini to produce a replacement for the Diablo: the Murcielago. It even allowed the company to produce a second car in its range: the Gallardo. It is a smaller and “cheaper” car, with “only” a V10 engine. Lamborghini also started using 4-wheel drive systems derived from the Audi Quattro system.

The Murcielago (left) and the Gallardo

                Audi owning Lamborghini is also a reproach made to the brand by the most radical petrol heads. In the Aventador test for BBC’s Top Gear, Richard Hammond explains that the Aventador does not feel like a V12 Lamborghini, like its ancestors. It does not feel dangerous and difficult to drive. It is easy, despite the power and the performance, just like “a big Audi”, he says.

Top Gear's Richard Hammond tests the Aventador

         

                It is important to note that all Lamborghini have always been built for maximum performance. Compromise is not a word used in Sant’Agata, which means for example that the suspension, the steering and the clutch used to be very hard. It was part of the “folklore”. Today, with power steering, 4-wheel drive, traction control and plenty of other technological devices, some, like Hammond, would argue that Lamborghini lost part of its identity with more accessible cars.

                On the other hand, we would argue that Lamborghini actually just keeps doing what it always did, no matter the owner: build cars as extreme as the current technology allows it. This is the part of Lamborghini’s identity we have been looking for to replace the racing pedigree Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes or Audi have. The brand is actually very close to its mascot, the bull: raging head down, regardless the opposition. Ferrari is the elegant Prancing Horse, Lamborghini the dreaded raging bull.

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[1] http://www.statsf1.com/en/moteur-lamborghini.aspx

[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ferruccio-lamborghini-1474704.html

[3] http://www.motorlegend.com/coupe/lamborghini-350-gt/6,10674.html

[4] David Jolliffe, Tony Willard, Lamborghini: Forty Years, MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company, 2004, (ISBN 978-0760319456)

[5] http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/?url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Automobili-Lamborghini-Holding-SpA-Company-History.html&title=Automobili%20Lamborghini%20Holding%20S.p.A.%20Company%20History

[6] Cockerham, Paul W. Lamborghini: the spirit of the bull Tiger Books, 1997

How can an individual feel close to these brands identities?

We have established in a previous article the fact that both brands are more than just companies building cars. They have an identity which we started defining. In our opinion, it lies in the way these people justify the fashion they produce a car.

A brand is also a heritage from the past. If one takes a look back at the positioning map in the previous article and the brands featured on it, he will be able to foresee the amount of history behind the names. Of course, Pagani or Koenigsegg are very young companies, being respectively 13[1] and 18[2] years old. But many brands are actually centenarians: Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Aston Martin (in 2013) and Bugatti. The other brands are not newcomers either. Ferrari was founded in 1929[3], Porsche in 1948[4] and Bentley in 1919[5].

From left to right : Bentley Speed 8 (2003 Le Mans 24h winner), Bentley Continental GT, Bentley 4.5 litre Blower (1928 Le Mans 24h winner)) and Bentely Flying Spur

This heritage weighs a lot in the building of an identity. Most of these brands have been making cars of recognized quality, for people to dream of for decades and decades. However, the racing pedigree of a car brand does also have its importance in the building of the brand. Making racing cars capable of taming the most demanding tracks on the planet is an asset most these brands have. Pretty much all of them have at some point been involved in motorsport.

Ferrari's Championship-winning F1 cars

Ferrari built its legend upon 16 F1 constructors’ titles and 15 drivers’ titles[6]. All the championship-winning cars are gathered in this picture. It is by far the most successful team in the sport. It also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 9 times. Porsche 16. Many others brands won that race. Actually, we could spend hours detailing the incredible record these brands can have in motorsport.

However, it is interesting to see that Rolls Royce and Lamborghini do not have such pedigree. It is understandable for the British brand. Its sole purpose as we said is to make cars feeling as comfortable and elegant as possible. Racing is not at all in their attitude. What about Lamborghini then? Is it not contradictory with their ambition of making their customers feel like racing drivers?  It did try to power F1 cars with enormous V12 back in the 1990s, but it never allowed them to win a Grand Prix, let alone a championship. They have not won at Le Mans either, nor any major motorsport championship for that matter.

Eric Van de Poele in the 1991 Lamborghini F1 291

 They actually relied on their road cars’ personality to shape their identity. It is implicitely pointed out by Richard Hammond in the Aventador test embedded in the previous article. The Miura, the Diablo or the Countach were beasts to drive, requiring strength, talent and bravery to master on a track. It makes the passer-by as much impressed by the car as he is by the driver, getting out of it alive, feeling ‘like Chuck Yager”, the first man to break the sound barrier. It is actually his only concern about the Aventador : it is not as scary as its ancestors, losing according to Hammond there some of the brand’s identity.

Lamborghini Gallardo Balboni 

But what of the people buying their cars? How do they figure out they are made to drive a Rolls Royce rather than a Lamborghini, supposing they can afford both? Of course, age would play a lot. Rolls Royce owner must be older people, sensible, seeking comfort and elegance. Not quite as what would be an Aventador’s owner. The movie the Dark Knight Rises (2012 by Christopher Nolan) offers here an interested insight. Bruce Wayne has both a Lamborghini and a Bentley. When he needs a ride home, Alfred comes peacefully pick him up in the Rolls Royce’s competitor. When he is a man with a mission, the Batman without the suit, he drives the Aventador.

However, the dream each brand represent would play the bigger part in the choice process. Which dream would you live if you had the money? The dream of having a chauffeur, a car timelessly beautiful and not showing-off? The dream a grown man could have shamelessly. Or would you listen the 6 year old boy within yourself willing to have the car on his wall’s poster, fast, aggressive and thrilling?

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[1] http://www.pagani.com/en/pagani/default.aspx

[2] http://www.koenigsegg.com/koenigsegg/timeline/

[3] http://www.ferrari.com/english/about_ferrari/history/Pages/enzo_ferrari.aspx

[4] http://www.facebook.com/porsche

[5] http://www.bentleymotors.com/distinguished_heritage/overview/

[6] http://www.statsf1.com/en/ferrari.aspx

This is a men's world

The luxury car industry is a niche market. It means that it targets a small population. Indeed, the price ranges (from a minimum of 100 000€ to over 500 000€) testifies that not everybody can afford such goods. But this industry does not only target “rich” people.

In 2010, only 7.4% of Lamborghini buyers were women and 9.3% of Rolls Royce buyers were women. Regarding the other luxury brands, the percentages are quite the same and never reach more than 10%. This means that the other 90% are men. Indeed, according to Jesse Toprak, Vice President of Industry Trends and Insights at TrueCar.com : “The study shows that women car buyers are more cost-conscious and purchased fuel-efficient vehicles while male buyers were completely the opposite, purchasing vehicles that were either big and brawny, like a large truck, or chose a high-priced, high-performance vehicle.”¹

Regarding their ages, the European and US market is dominated by older customers. However, Lamborghini seduces a much younger market in Asia. Indeed, according to Stephan Winkleman, CEO, this is an Asian phenomenon and this trend can be seen only in India and China2.

With such figures, we understand their communication and advertising strategy. As it is a niche market, the media used are specialized paper magazine and specialized TV shows. The latter are presented by men (for the most part) and car models are tested by men. In magazine, it is more about printed advertising and strong technical approaches in articles.

Promotion videos are also shot and shared online (Youtube official channels, trade fair websites, official websites, blogs) or in TV shows.

Brand placement is another advertising technique used by this market. We can see Lamborghini in the Batman trilogy as Bruce Wayne’s car. Rolls-Royce seems to have a deeper relationship with the cinema as its models appeared in countless movies and TV shows. As an example the Silver Cloud III appeared in 136 movies and TV shows, sometimes as a simple background car but also as the main vehicle of one of the characters[3]. This can be explained by the old age of the brand and it certainly contributed to its myth. 

Another communication strategy is the participation of these brands in trade fairs. And their booth design also reveals the targeted market: modern architectural lines metaphorically representing the implied technology, young women enhancing the beauty of the car and men presenting the technical aspects.

We can definitely say that it is a men’s world: the cars are designed, created and produced by men in order to please other men, the latter being the future buyers.

Symbols of wealth, performance and power, we understand why such goods please men who will project their own desire and their social-self on their car.

¹http://blog.truecar.com/2011/04/07/study-reveals-men-go-for-looks-women-opt-for-practicality/

²http://luxpresso.com/interviews-indulge/lamborghini-ceo-talks-fast-cars-young-buyers/12401/1

³http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Rolls-Royce.html

How can Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce have such different identities?

We mentioned in a previous article the fact that both companies, though part of the same market, have diametrically opposed identities. One just need to take a look at the new Lamborghini Aventador to figure out it is all about being fast, performant and aggressive. It is a pantomime of the so-called “supercar”. However, if one looks at the latest Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead (but also to all their cars), he will see that the stakes are different here. If it were not for the four wheels and the engine, the Phantom would be closer to a yacht than to the Aventador. The ride of the car will be more comfortable, so will the seats, and the car was not shaped in a wind tunnel to maximize aerodynamic performance, it was shaped to please the human eye.

We reckon that a positioning map placing all the brands on the market we are interested in according to their priorities when designing a car illustrates this difference. Comparing the importance of performance (or comfort) and elegance (or aggressive design) gives a good idea of each brand’s identity. Let’s remind though, that this map does not judge the performance or the elegance of the brand (which may vary depending on the cars), it just measures how much of a priority performance would be over comfort, and elegance over aggression.

This map clearly shows how opposite are the firms from Sant’Agata and Sussex. It may seem odd to say that performance is almost not at all a priority for Rolls Royce when you know that most Rolls Royce are powered by 6.5l or 6.75l V12 engines producing up to 560 BHP[1]. It actually is. But the point is that despite these engines, even the coupé version of the Phantom (the Drophead), weighs 2.6 tons! As James May from Top Gear points out in the video embedded, the chassis is not made from carbon fiber, unlike the Aventador. It is not made to allow insane cornering speeds, but to look beautiful and be as comfortable as possible to drive. The identity of a brand also lies in its design. The rims or the radiator grill always are very similar on a Rolls-Royce. So is the general shape of the cars, as well as the mascot. A brand new Rolls Royce surprisingly looks like any of its 100 years old ancestor.

Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Top Gear test

Take Lamborghini on the other hand. All Lamborghinis have looked very aggressive in their time, though the Miura and the Aventador barely look alike. When you see one of these, you are more impressed or surprised, than actually struck by its beauty. Mechanically, it is pretty much the same. The 6.5l V12 delivering 700 BHP is there to catapult the car from one corner to another with brutal power. So is the 4 wheel-drive system. So is the f1-derived suspension technology. Everything on a nowadays Lamborghini is made to make it as quick as possible around a race track. Just like a race car.

The identity of a brand does not lie in the question “How do they make a car?” Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce both use expensive and exotic materials, in state of the art factories. It does not either lie in the question “What do they do?” They both make cars that make millions of boys (young or not) dream around the world. The identity is defined by the question why? Lamborghini builds cars to make the customer feel the thrill racing drivers feel. Rolls Royce wants to treat them as if they were part of the Royal Family.

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[1] http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/drives/2011-rolls-royce-ghost

What is a luxury car for a human being?

     We should start answering this question by a wider one: what is a car for a human being?

     Cars are considered as one of the major technological inventions. They are part of our occidental way of life: in France, 81.7% of families possess car and 34.5% possess 2 or more cars (Insee 2011); in the USA, there is around 300 million cars (US Bureau of Transit Statistics for 2004 : 250 million registered cars with approximately 16 million new car sold each year). Of course, a car is a mean to go from one point to another. But is not it more than that? Could we really compare –apart from the technological aspect– a car to a bike or a city bus? What is really our car to us?

     Psychologists agree on the fact that a car is often a projection of ourselves. Indeed, people really have a special relationship to their car compared to other objects: they drive it mostly every day, control it, take care of it… Buying a first car is also an important step in someone’s life, not only for its cost, but because it represent his independence, his ability to move faster by himself.  

     Buying a car is a very involving process because it is an exceptional purchase (the average lifetime of a car is 13 years1) and it requires investments due to its cost. Customers make careful choices comparing brands, performance, equipment, and prices and thus create a special relation to their car once it is bought: they chose it carefully; it represents them in a way. 

     Regarding the luxury car industry, the purchase process is quite the same: it is highly involving because the price of this kind of goods (as expensive as houses) and it is still an unusual purchase. We will develop in another article the importance of brand identity in this particular purchase process, yet we can definitely say that customers recognize themselves in the luxury car that they are buying.

     Moreover, this industry sells performance, exceptional design and material, high technical abilities but above all, it sells dream. Through advertising and communication, history and traditions, luxury cars have become the product you want to buy “when you are rich”. Few cannot say that they did not imagine what would be their car in this situation. Realizing this dream is satisfying your ego; it is also showing the world your premium taste in cars and expresses the social category you belong to. 

     Considering the former elements, customers have a strong and long lasting emotional relationship to their luxury car.  

¹http://temis.documentation.equipement.gouv.fr/documents/Temis/0037/Temis-0037871/NS_133_2.pdf