Rolls-Royce is renowned for craftsmanship. It emphasised that assembly is taking by experienced human hand with intensive care, but this is no longer true as the Crewe factory has been modernised and cut man-hour spent per car. In fact, hand craft doesn it mean better fit and finish. Undeniably, Mercedes now builds better cars than Rolls. 

Rolls-Royce was owned by an industrial group, Vickers, until 1998. As BMW has been supplying engines and various equipment to RR since 1997 and had revealed interest in RR, it was tipped to be the new owner. However, Volkswagen entered the scene suddenly and out-bid BMW as it offered Vickers as much as Ј470 million. BMW fought back by securing the right of the "Rolls Royce" name through its close relationship with aircraft engine maker, Rolls-Royce Plc. It is known that through the years the car maker Rolls-Royce use the name under an agreement with the aero engine maker, which has business link with BMW's aircraft engine division so that it favoured BMW right from the beginning. BMW bought the RR name from Rolls-Royce Plc. by merely Ј40 million. Shortly after that, an agreement was made with VW : Volkswagen could use the RR name until 1st January, 2003, then BMW will take back the brand name and started producing Rolls in a new location. VW will retain Bentley and the Crewe factory. In other words, the RR and Bentley will split starting from 2003. 

The RR will be BMW s weapon to fight against the most expensive Mercedes. Expect more high tech to be incorporated but the car will be designed (or at least engineered) by German. Similarly, Bentley will also be designed by Volkswagen. The German giant have an ambitious plan to make the future Bentley more exciting, appealing and increase production scale.

As a result, the Silver Ghost was described as the best car in the world. As a principle of Henry Royce, RR always made cars as strong as possible without worrying weight, size and price. In addition to the superb craftsmanship, the company achieved a reputation as making the best luxurious cars in the world. However, approaching the 30 s, RR s status was challenged by Bentley s 8-litre, a luxurious car with size, power and everything to trouble Rolls-Royce Phantom II. 

Bentley was founded by Walter Owen Bentley (known as W.O. Bentley) in 1919, primarily making bullet-proof sports cars. Like Henry Royce, W.O. Bentley cared about reliability instead of weight and size. Therefore his sports cars were described by some as "the fastest trucks on earth". The model 3-litre won Le Mans in 1924. Then followed by 4.5-litre (1927 and 28) and the 6.5-litre Speed Six (1929 and 30). The racing program made its cars famous. 

Nevertheless, the great depression since 1929 put Bentley into bankruptcy. A mystery group called British Equitable Trust bid the company in 1931. Several days later, W.O. Bentley knew that it was actually Rolls-Royce ! 

Since then Rolls-Royce dictated the development of Bentley cars and eventually made the latter a re-badged and retuned version of Rolls-Royce. W.O. Bentley was unhappy, of course, so that he left the company he founded and joined Lagonda. His creation included the famous Lagonda V12 (a rival to RR) and the straight six for Aston Martin DB2. 

In 1938, Rolls-Royce moved from Derby to the Crewe factory which is still using today. There were some more good cars from RR and Bentley, such as RR Phantom III (1936) and Bentley Continental R (1952). However, the firm did not explore much new technology and production method, thus not only lost the reputation for refinement but also the name as the world s best cars. When Mercedes launched the V12 600SEL in 1990, Rolls-Royce was generally regarded as outdated and not as good as the Mercedes any more. 

BMW involved in the late 90 is by supplying engines and equipment, but it was Volkswagen that eventually bought the company in 1998. BMW responded by securing the Rolls-Royce name plate starting from 2003.