GOODWOOD, England — Rolls-Royce has some good news for the troubled U.K. auto industry. The company has added 150 new jobs already to support the building of its new model, the Rolls-Royce Ghost. By the end of the year, the automaker says, it will have added 400 new workers, increasing the workforce here by 50 percent.
Workers in the wood, leather and paint shops make up the majority of the new hires. Those shops are shared between the Ghost and the Phantom lineup. Apprentices and student interns are also being accepted. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO Tom Purves praised the British auto industry's "exceptional talent for automotive production" and the company said vacancies can be viewed on its Web site.
The Ghost, previously known under the working title RR4, debuted at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show in April. It is powered by a 6.6-liter turbocharged V12 engine mated to an eight-speed ZF transmission making "upwards of 500 horsepower."
Production of the Ghost is set to start in the fall. Rolls-Royce says further details will be "announced in due course."
Inside Line says: Four-hundred new jobs is great news for the U.K. auto industry. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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