Rolls-Royce is to double its shift working and take on 200 new employees as demand from China for its £200,000 Phantom cars increases.

The prestige brand, which is owned by BMW, is increasing production ahead of planned additional models, which will be priced below the Phantom — one of the world’s most expensive cars. The 200 new jobs will take the workforce at Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood factory to 700.

This year the brand expects to have sold 800 Phantoms, its highest for 16 years. However, it still has 200 more to sell if it is to reach the target output that BMW outlined when it bought the brand in 1998.

Ian Robertson, Rolls-Royce’s chief executive, said that China had become Rolls-Royce’s third-biggest market, after the United States and Britain, thanks to China’s new entrepreneurs.

Rolls-Royce’s new vehicles are expected to be produced within three years and will be priced between £160,000 and £200,000.

The move is similar to that taken by Bentley, the other leading British prestige brand which is owned by Volkswagen, when it produced the Bentley Continental as a cheaper and more modern alternative to its Arnage.

However, Jim O’Donnell, managing director of BMW UK, warned that regulation and poor infrastructure were hampering the British car industry.

“Doing business in the UK is getting tougher. Regulation, environmental concerns and taxation complexity are not making life any easier,” he said.

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