Many top industry experts have predicted a global market recovery by year’s end, with Rolls-Royce fully buying into that outlook. The British luxury marque announced earlier on Wednesday that it will be increasing the workforce at its Goodwood plant in anticipation of the production of the all-new Rolls-Royce Ghost.
In all, Rolls-Royce plans to boost its Goodwood employment by 50 percent. The all-new Ghost will lead to the direct creation of more than 150 new jobs, with a total of 400 new positions created over the last two years. The Goodwood plant currently employs 750 workers, but that number will be bumped up to 900 by year’s end.
“This is good news for the British car industry at a time when it is struggling,†Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves said in a statement. “Britain has an exceptional talent for automotive production and we are keen to maximize this at Rolls-Royce. Our new model, the Ghost, has enjoyed an extremely positive international response and we now need to put people in place to bring the car to market.â€
According to Rolls-Royce, the majority of the new positions have been created in the wood, leather and paint shops as well as the assembly areas. Some of the new positions also include office jobs.
Rolls-Royce expects the Ghost – which will begin production this fall with the first deliveries scheduled for early 2010 – to essentially double the company’s annual production to 1,600 units.
