Rolls-Royce sold more cars last year than ever before in its 117-year history.

The company, owned by German car group BMW, sold 5,586 vehicles as consumers sought luxury amid the pandemic.

CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos told CGTN that buyers were getting younger and were more likely to want to get behind the wheel than sit behind a chauffeur.

Twelve years ago, the average age of a new owner was 54, compared with 43 today, he said.

"The way to drive a Rolls-Royce is very much the owner behind the wheel and not any longer so much in the back of the car. So all these kinds of developments have changed the brand quite massively," he told Juliet Mann on CGTN's Global Business program.

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Muller-Otvos also revealed the company has a year-long waiting list to pick up a new vehicle. That's spurring many impatient buyers to look to the company's Provenance program, which offers top-condition pre-owned cars, he said.