Bugatti Automobiles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For original Bugatti company, see Bugatti.

Coordinates: 483136N 72959E

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.

Type

Socit par actions simplifie

Industry

Automotive

Predecessor

Bugatti

Founded

2000 (originally 1909)

Founder(s)

Ettore Bugatti

Headquarters

Molsheim, Alsace, France

Area served

Worldwide

Products

Automobiles

Owner(s)

Volkswagen France[1]

Parent

Volkswagen Group

Website

bugatti.com

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. is an automobile manufacturer located in Molsheim, Alsace, France. It is owned by the German automobile manufacturinggroup Volkswagen Group as a subsidiary of Volkswagen France.[1] It was founded in 2000[2] as a successor to the Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.
Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Cars

o o o

2.1 Giugiaro concept cars 2.2 EB 16.4 Veyron 2.3 16C Galibier

3 References 4 External links

History
At the urging of then-chairman Ferdinand Pich, 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 RollsRoyce 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 Chteau 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 Chteau. Theatelier was officially inaugurated on 3 September 2005.

Cars

Giugiaro concept cars

Volkswagen commissioned ItalDesign's Giorgetto Giugiaro to design a series of concept cars to return the marque to prominence. The first example, the EB 118, was a two-door coup 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 IAAin 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 (408 kW; 547 hp) 18-cylinder engine. This was the first-ever Wconfiguration 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
Main article: Bugatti Veyron

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 Kaba of Volkswagen, rather than Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign, who had handled the three prior Bugatti concepts. The then Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Pich 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 Hunaudires 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.

Pich 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);[citation needed] 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.[citation needed].

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 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.[3]

References
1. ^
a b

"A Legendary Brand Is Reborn"

. Bugatti. Retrieved 2010-10-02.

2.

^ "Volkswagen AG - Annual Report 2000"

(PDF). Wolfsburg: Volkswagen AG. 2001. pp. 31/33. Retrieved 15 October 2008. "With effect from 22 December 2000, Groupe VOLKSWAGEN France s.a. established BUGATTI AUTOMOBILES S.A.S. as a 100 % wholly owned subsidiary."
[dead link]

3.

^ Cremer, Andreas (2011-03-31). "Bugatti Said to Get Backing for $1.4 Million Galibier Supercar"

. Bloomberg. Retrieved 2011-04-09.

[show]v d eBugatti road car timeline, 1910present a marque of the Volkswagen

External links
France portal Cars portal Companies portal

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.

[show] Links to related articles

View page ratings

Rate this page

What's this? Trustworthy Objective Complete Well-written I am highly knowledgeable about this topic (optional) Submit ratings

Categories: Bugatti | Car manufacturers of France | Motor vehicle manufacturers of France | Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers | Sports car manufacturers | Volkswagen Group | French auto racing teams | French racecar constructors | Companies of France | Companies established in 1998

This page was last modified on 24 July 2011 at 06:19. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Contact us Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Mobile View