---
title: "Rolls-Royce Could Use 3D Printing to Build Future Car Bodies, CEO Says"
description: "But don't think that'll make them any cheaper."
date: "2017-10-25"
modified: "2017-10-25"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/15457/rolls-royce-could-use-3d-printing-to-build-future-car-bodies-ceo-says"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "3d printing"
  - "Rolls-Royce"
  - "Torsten Müller-Ötvös"
---

# Rolls-Royce Could Use 3D Printing to Build Future Car Bodies, CEO Says

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/10/rolls-royce-103ex-concept.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com\</em\>*

To butcher a line from an old musical—it seems that at Great Britain's best-known luxury carmaker, tomorrow belongs to 3D. Exotically-named Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said the fabled luxury carmaker could wind up using [the same technology we at *The Drive* use to whip up goofy toy cars](<https://www.facebook.com/thedrive/videos/vl.1143643355714516/1447745425305015/?type=1>) to create the exteriors of future custom models.

"We have done some 3D printing,” [Müller-Ötvös said to *Car and Driver*](<https://blog.caranddriver.com/the-rolls-royces-of-rolls-royces-company-commits-to-an-even-pricier-bespoke-future/>) at the launch event for [the all-new 2018 Phantom](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/12933/2018-rolls-royce-phantom-revealed-a-450000-car-with-a-built-in-art-gallery>), adding: "I think that our long-term goal is to print bigger parts; maybe even bodies are possible.”

But while 3D printing offers the potential to create complex body panels with greater ease than traditional methods, the goal of these 3D-printed [Rolls-Royce bodies](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/6296/rolls-royce-gives-us-the-best-look-yet-at-the-cullinan-suv>) wouldn't be to do anything as plebeian as lower prices. In fact, according to Müller-Ötvös, the carmaker would rather look to use it to help create bespoke project cars for its wealthiest clients. He cited [the $13 million Rolls-Royce Sweptail](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/10739/13-million-rolls-royce-sweptail-could-be-most-expensive-new-car-ever-made>) as an example of the sort of custom vehicle the carmaker has plenty of demand for, but simply hasn't been able to crank out very easily.

“That was a very successful experiment, but it took us four years," he told *C/D*. "The market potential is not the problem. The challenge is to make it happen."

[One-off and super-limited-run special models have become an increasingly important part](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/2421/inside-the-wild-and-extravagant-business-of-bespoke-luxury-cars>) of the business model for high-end carmakers in recent years, as they seek to find ways to stretch their already-expensive model ranges further into the stratosphere. Thanks to a sky's-the-limit approach to options and features, [buyers can easily push the window sticker on "regular" super-luxury cars](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/7812/rare-2017-rolls-royce-ghost-black-badge-is-a-400000-apparition>) to double their base price or higher—and that's before even diving into [the realm of custom bodywork](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/14827/watch-and-listen-to-this-gorgeous-ferrari-f12-trs>), which can often send the cost of a car into seven-figure territory.

*Pictured:* [*Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 Concept*](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/4026/the-rolls-royce-vision-next-100-is-a-beautiful-cartoon-of-a-concept-car>)

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)