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Rolls-Royce CEO says demand for luxury cars is recovering

LONDON — The chief executive of Rolls-Royce said demand for his company's luxury cars is rebounding, helped by sales in Asia, and he is optimistic about the outlook for next year after the coronavirus pandemic hit consumer confidence and closed dealerships. Torsten Muller-Otvos said the demand meant Rolls-Royce was the first car company to resume car production in the United Kingdom on May 4. "We see a very fruitful business now coming back from Asia, also Europe is coming back on track, the Americas just delivered an excellent July result and August result," the boss of the BMW-owned Rolls-Royce Motor Cars told Reuters. "I am quite optimistic looking into 2021, particularly on the back of a very strong order bank we have already on our books." Muller-Otvos said his company has no plans to move production out of the United Kingdom because of Brexit. "We are committed to Britain. I would even call us being part of the British industrial crown jewels," he said. "For that reason, Rolls-Royce belongs to Britain."

Rolls-Royce mulling V16 roadster, SUV

Rolls-Royce may be working on a new, mega-powerful roadster for 2017. CAR reports the convertible would conceivably boast a V16 engine. Of course, the report gets a little muddled here, with CAR saying the engine would be very similar to that of the one that powers the Bugatti Veyron - the French machine makes use of a W16 mill. Even so, the article says the Rolls-Royce version could put down around 700 horsepower. Design wise, we're told the creation will feature a suitably long nose with the passenger compartment pushed far to the rear.
Of course, 2017 is a long way off, and the thought of a 16-cylinder, naturally aspirated engine bowing under the crush of ever more stringent government fuel efficiency and emission regulations seems unlikely. We'll just put this one in the wait-and-see file for the time being. In the interim, you can hop over to CAR for a closer look at the magazine's rendering of the would-be roadster. If a V16 convertible does happen, look for a smug look on Rowan Atkinson's face.
Oh, and about that SUV? There's not much to report, though CAR does note that officials are keeping a close eye on rival Bentley and its plans for a luxury utility vehicle. Rolls brand boss Harald Krüger has even gone so far as to admit "we're regularly debating whether to take action."

Rolls-Royce luxes up Paddington Bear

There are few things quite as quintessentially British as Rolls-Royce and Paddington Bear. And now the two have come together in one glorious creation.
As part of a promotion for a new Paddington movie and to raise funds for the UK's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), London is decorating itself with a series of 50 sculptures reinterpreting the classic British children's character dotting the Paddington Trail across the city.
One of those installations has been created by Rolls-Royce, whose take on Paddington wears a brown leather duffel coat with a purple cravat and hat, a zebrawood suitcase and a pair of MK8 driving goggles that pay homage to the company's gentleman-racer history. He stands atop a chrome base modeled after Rolls' iconic Pantheon grille.