Bugatti Automobiles SAS
Encyclopedia
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. is an automobile
manufacturer located in Molsheim
, Alsace
, France. It is owned by the German automobile manufacturing
group Volkswagen Group
as a subsidiary of Volkswagen France. It was founded in 2000 as a successor to the Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.
, Volkswagen purchased the rights to produce cars under the Bugatti
marque in 1998. This followed the purchase of Lamborghini
(by VW's Audi
subsidiary), the Rolls-Royce
factory in Crewe
, England, United Kingdom, and the Bentley marque.
On 22 December 2000, Volkswagen officially incorporated Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., with former VW drivetrain chief Karl-Heinz Neumann as president. The company purchased the 1856 Château Saint Jean, formerly Ettore Bugatti
's guest house in Dorlisheim, near Molsheim, and began refurbishing it to serve as the company's headquarters. The original factory was still in the hands of Snecma
, who were unwilling to part with it. At the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
in August 2000, VW announced that they would instead build a new modern atelier (factory) next to and south of the Château. The atelier was officially inaugurated on 3 September 2005.
to design a series of concept car
s to return the marque to prominence. The first example, the EB 118, was a two-door coupé
and was introduced at the hello
Motor Show
in 1998. It was followed by the four-door EB 218 touring sedan, introduced at the Geneva Motor Show
in 1999. Later that year, the 18/3 Chiron
was shown at the IAA in Frankfurt. The final Bugatti concept was not designed by ItalDesign: the VW-designed EB 18/4 GT was introduced at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show
.
All of these early concepts featured a 555 PS 18-cylinder engine
. This was the first-ever W-configuration
engine on a passenger vehicle, with three banks of six cylinders. It shared many components with Volkswagen's modular engine family.
Development of this vehicle began with the 1999 EB 18/4 "Veyron" concept car, which itself had a chassis based on that of the Bugatti 18/3 Chiron concept car. It was similar in design and appearance to the final Veyron production car. One major difference was the EB 18/4's use of a W18 engine with three banks of six cylinders. The Veyron's chief designer was Hartmut Warkuss, and the exterior was designed by Jozef Kabaň of Volkswagen, rather than Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign, who had handled the three prior Bugatti concepts.
The then – Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piëch announced the Veyron at the 2000 Geneva Motor Show. It was promised to be the fastest, most powerful and most expensive car in history. Instead of the W18, it would use a VR6/WR8-style W16 engine. First seen in the 1999 Bentley Hunaudières concept car, the W16 would have four turbochargers and produce a quoted (metric) 1001 horsepower (see engine section for details on the power output). Top speed was promised at 407 km/h (253 mph), and the price was announced at €1 million.
Development continued throughout 2001 and the EB 16/4 Veyron was promoted to "advanced concept" status. In late 2001, Bugatti announced that the car, officially called the "Bugatti Veyron 16.4", would go into production in 2003. Taking great pride in the making of the Veyron, the production plant (where cars are also ordered) is affectionately called the "Atelier" which means an artists workroom.
Piëch retired that year as chairman of the Volkswagen Group and was replaced by Bernd Pischetsrieder. The new chairman promptly sent the Veyron back to the drawing board for major revisions. Neumann was replaced as Bugatti president by Thomas Bscher in December 2003, and substantial modifications were made to the Veyron under the guidance of a former VW engineer, Bugatti Engineering chief Wolfgang Schreiber.
The Veyron costs €1,100,000 (net price without taxes); prices vary by exchange rates and local taxes (like value added taxes). Prices for the UK or the US are over £880,000, or around $1,400,000. It was noted in an April issue of "Live" magazine (weekly mens magazine with the Sunday Times) that customers are free to order additional extras which can push the price up by the cost of a Rolls Royce Phantom. During an episode of Top Gear, the car was compared to the Concorde as a feat of technology..
One year later Bugatti showed the world the 16C Galibier Concept
at "VW Group Night" at the Geneva Auto Show in a new black and aluminum color combination.
The Galibier, a 1000 HP sedan, was first shown as a concept in 2010 and when put into production, will cost about $1.4 million. It will use the same 16-cylinder 8.0-litre engine as the Veyron but instead of four turbos, the 16C Galibier would instead use two superchargers to deliver better torque. Production will require facilities in Molsheim, France, to be refitted, which may push back deliveries until 2013 or 2014.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
manufacturer located in Molsheim
Molsheim
Molsheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The total population in 2006 was 9,382. Molsheim had been a very fast growing city between the French censuses of 1968 and 1999, passing from 5,739 to 9,331 inhabitants, but this increase came to a noticeable halt...
, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, France. It is owned by the German automobile manufacturing
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
group Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
as a subsidiary of Volkswagen France. It was founded in 2000 as a successor to the Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.
History
At the urging of then-chairman Ferdinand PiëchFerdinand Piëch
Ferdinand Karl Piëch is an Austrian business magnate, engineer and executive who is currently the chairman of the supervisory board of Volkswagen Group....
, Volkswagen purchased the rights to produce cars under the Bugatti
Bugatti
Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....
marque in 1998. This followed the purchase of Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...
(by VW's Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
subsidiary), the Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Motors
Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine...
factory in Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
, England, United Kingdom, and the Bentley marque.
On 22 December 2000, Volkswagen officially incorporated Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., with former VW drivetrain chief Karl-Heinz Neumann as president. The company purchased the 1856 Château Saint Jean, formerly Ettore Bugatti
Ettore Bugatti
right|thumb|Ettore Bugatti in 1932Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was an Italian-born and French naturalized citizen automobile designer and manufacturer....
's guest house in Dorlisheim, near Molsheim, and began refurbishing it to serve as the company's headquarters. The original factory was still in the hands of Snecma
Snecma
Snecma is a major French manufacturer of engines for commercial and military aircraft, and for space vehicles. The name is an acronym for Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation .In 2005, the Snecma group, which included Snecma ,...
, who were unwilling to part with it. At the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California, considered the most prestigious event of its kind. It is the finale of a week long festival of classic cars events in the Monterey area every year...
in August 2000, VW announced that they would instead build a new modern atelier (factory) next to and south of the Château. The atelier was officially inaugurated on 3 September 2005.
Giugiaro concept cars
Volkswagen commissioned ItalDesign's Giorgetto GiugiaroGiorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
to design a series of concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
s to return the marque to prominence. The first example, the EB 118, was a two-door coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
and was introduced at the hello
Motor Show
Mondial de l'Automobile
The Paris Motor Show is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held around October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show was the first motor show in the world, started in 1898 by industry pioneer, Albert de Dion. The show...
in 1998. It was followed by the four-door EB 218 touring sedan, introduced at the Geneva Motor Show
Salon International de l'Auto
The International Geneva Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Geneva Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport...
in 1999. Later that year, the 18/3 Chiron
Bugatti 18/3 Chiron
The Bugatti 18/3 Chiron was a concept sports car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. It was a mid-engine design with the same W18 engine found in the EB 118 and EB 218 concept cars. The front resembles the Bugatti Veyron...
was shown at the IAA in Frankfurt. The final Bugatti concept was not designed by ItalDesign: the VW-designed EB 18/4 GT was introduced at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show
Tokyo Motor Show
The is a biennial auto show held in October-November at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba City, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association , it is a recognized international show by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs...
.
All of these early concepts featured a 555 PS 18-cylinder engine
W18 engine
A W18 engine is an eighteen cylinder piston engine which usually has a single crankshaft with three banks of six cylinders arranged in an inverted broad arrow configuration. Recent W18 engines powered the Bugatti EB 118, Bugatti EB 218 and Bugatti 18/3 Chiron concept cars in the late 1990s. This...
. This was the first-ever W-configuration
W engine
A W engine is a type of reciprocating engine arranged with its cylinders in a configuration in which the cylinder banks resemble the letter W, in the same way those of a V engine resemble the letter V....
engine on a passenger vehicle, with three banks of six cylinders. It shared many components with Volkswagen's modular engine family.
EB 16.4 Veyron
The then – Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piëch announced the Veyron at the 2000 Geneva Motor Show. It was promised to be the fastest, most powerful and most expensive car in history. Instead of the W18, it would use a VR6/WR8-style W16 engine. First seen in the 1999 Bentley Hunaudières concept car, the W16 would have four turbochargers and produce a quoted (metric) 1001 horsepower (see engine section for details on the power output). Top speed was promised at 407 km/h (253 mph), and the price was announced at €1 million.
Development continued throughout 2001 and the EB 16/4 Veyron was promoted to "advanced concept" status. In late 2001, Bugatti announced that the car, officially called the "Bugatti Veyron 16.4", would go into production in 2003. Taking great pride in the making of the Veyron, the production plant (where cars are also ordered) is affectionately called the "Atelier" which means an artists workroom.
The Veyron costs €1,100,000 (net price without taxes); prices vary by exchange rates and local taxes (like value added taxes). Prices for the UK or the US are over £880,000, or around $1,400,000. It was noted in an April issue of "Live" magazine (weekly mens magazine with the Sunday Times) that customers are free to order additional extras which can push the price up by the cost of a Rolls Royce Phantom. During an episode of Top Gear, the car was compared to the Concorde as a feat of technology..
16C Galibier
The 16C Galibier was first unveiled during the Celebration of the Centenary of the Marque in Molsheim. The presentation was only for Bugatti customers. The car show in Molsheim showed the car in blue carbon fibre and aluminum parts.One year later Bugatti showed the world the 16C Galibier Concept
Bugatti 16C Galibier Concept
The Bugatti 16C Galibier Concept is a prototype of a luxury sedan which was presented officially in September by Bugatti Automobiles prior to the IAA 2009...
at "VW Group Night" at the Geneva Auto Show in a new black and aluminum color combination.
The Galibier, a 1000 HP sedan, was first shown as a concept in 2010 and when put into production, will cost about $1.4 million. It will use the same 16-cylinder 8.0-litre engine as the Veyron but instead of four turbos, the 16C Galibier would instead use two superchargers to deliver better torque. Production will require facilities in Molsheim, France, to be refitted, which may push back deliveries until 2013 or 2014.