LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - British luxury automaker

Rolls-Royce said on Wednesday it will invest 300 million pounds

($376 million) to expand its Goodwood plant to focus more on

bespoke cars for high-end clients, featuring anything from gold

sculptures to mother-of-pearl artwork.

As with other high-end automakers, Rolls-Royce has seen

rising demand for high-margin, personalized car content from

wealthy consumers.

In 2024 alone, the BMW unit said its "artisans

crafted exquisite details" that included solid 18-carat gold

sculptures, embroideries consisting of more than 869,500

stitches, wood veneers including 500 individually-shaped pieces

of wood and holographic paint finishes.

Rolls-Royce said that the Goodwood plant expansion is to

serve customers for its Bespoke services and Coachbuild

programme - an invitation-only service where wealthy clients get

to "craft an entirely original motor car."

The investment is the largest since the plant opened in

2003, when it employed 300 people and made one car a day, the

company said. Today, Goodwood employs 2,500 people and produces

28 cars daily, it said.

Rolls-Royce also said that globally it sold 5,712 cars in

2024, a drop of more than 5% versus the 6,032 cars it sold in

2023, which it said was in line with its expectations as it

switches over to new models.

($1 = 0.7979 pounds)

(Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)