Rolls Royce Plc (RR-)
January 10th, 2008Hard to imagine a more evocative brand than Rolls Royce. Smooth, powerful and bold, just like the British who invented it; brash, beautifully engineered and reliable, just like the Germans who make it.
But the Spirit of Ecstasy can still spread her wings for investors as the last remaining British bit of the business looks set to give a smooth ride over rough times.
These days RR is all about very, very big engines and we are ready for take off….
Research: Rolls Royce Plc
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Category: iBall
Heavens! A crunch has become chaos and carnage and the market only seems to go one way –meltdown. Perhaps, it is not the best time in the world to be cheerfully giving investment ideas, given it’s so difficult to pick anything out of all of this mess. Just look at our portfolio.
January 10th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I have never had the pleasure of owning a German engineered RR, I have come close to owning German Engineered cars i.e. BMW and Merc. I have let some of neighbours indulge themselves in Germany. The record and history shows Reliability is not one of the reasons to buy a German car, style, strength, speed and superb engineering BUT NO NOT RELIABLE, consumers reports published confirm that. Plus why do German cars in UK cost 60 to 75% more than in USA for the same model but right hand drive.
January 10th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I’ve go two Mercedes. One is 20 years old, has done 100k plus miles and never needs any more attention than oil, tyres etc. The other is 2002 and an absolute dog which is almost never out of the garage. What does that tell you? Not much I spose. Buy RR
January 10th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I am confused by this article. RR PLC, the aero engine manufacturer is 100% BRITISH and nothing to do with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd which is owned by BMW AG. A poorly researched and misleading article!!
January 10th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Are you watching the right video? That’s exactly what it says from the beginning.
January 10th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Absolutely terrible, poorly researched and very confusing article.
Rolls Royce has not made cars since 1971! Granted 1/2 way through the artilce this point is made - but against the visual backdrop of - yes a car.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Isn’t that the point being made? Its more the spectre of ecstasy rather than spirit that haunts peoples perception of this British leader- isn’t the representation of the car meant to convey this, rather too subtle perhaps but don’t 9/10 people miss the point about RR.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Just thought I’d add to an otherwise excellent piece the news, in case anyone has missed it, that Rolls-Royce has announced a redundancy programme involving the loss of 2,300 jobs. Most of RR’s business is priced in dollars and the weak Us currency has hit profits.
By the way folks, to reiterate, the episode makes very clear at the beginning that RR does not make cars anymore - BMW was sold the rights to use the marque for making RR motor cars.
With hindsight, given that sterling is at a 26-year high to the US dollar, the episode could have possibly mentioned exchange-rate risk. Shares down 3.2% this morning…
January 13th, 2008 at 12:32 am
I’m an engineer so RR has always meant Aero Engines to me.
To my mind the best this item can do is serve as a reminder and bring the company to my attention.
As much as I would like to give Miss Iball my full attention I would would always follow up articles like this with my own research.
January 19th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Rolls Royce are a large company that mainly sub contracts to the likes of china, canada etc. So no nostalgia here, they do a bit of assembly work, they make some of the parts they cant subcontract and do lots and lots of paperwork (their main business). The british worker, is uneducated, lazy and keeps striking till he gets 40K a year, that why not much is done in the uk anymore.
In terms of investment, they are in competition with a few american companys that are benefiting from the weak dollar and I cant see a huge amount of growth here, in fact its more likely to go upside down from time to time.
Only buy if the share is at a dirt cheap point after some major bad news, otherwise you will be disapointed.