Bugatti is closer than ever to proving that it has a big enough customer base to justify a second model line, boss Stephan Winkelmann has revealed at the Paris motor show.
Citing the success of the £4.5m Bugatti Divo - a limited-to-40-cars Bugatti Chiron tuned for maximum track performance, which sold out immediately - Winkelmann said: “What’s becoming clearer is that the enthusiasm is there to grow the brand.
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“Bugatti has never focused a car so much around dynamics, but the response to the Divo has been tremendous. Each car has been sold to an existing Chiron customer, and the allocation has gone immediately. That shows the passion for this brand.
“That shows me that we are ready to do more. In terms of the amount of people we have who love the brand, I feel we have proved a lot. The next question is how much money do we have to invest into our future to make some of our ideas become reality - and will the return justify that investment. That is what we must work on.
“Today we have many ideas, but all of them require work, and not all of them will succeed. We are still working on ideas.”
Winkelmann didn’t discuss specifics of what kind of car a second Bugatti model might be, but sources have suggested that the firm remains unconvinced that the five-door fastback design once mooted with the 2009 Galibier concept would prove popular enough.
Instead, a high-riding SUV-inspired design is said to be gaining favour among senior decision makers at the firm. Prior to leaving Lamborghini Winkelmann led plans for the launch of the Lamborghini Urus SUV, which was launched earlier this year and which is tipped to be a sales success. However, a Bugatti version of that car would need to justify a price tag at least twice that of the Lamborghini (which starts from £159,000), and deliver even greater performance.
Winkelmann did concede that future Bugatti powertrains could be electrified. “We have to find the right balance between emissions and performance, and while that is not clear today it is possible that the highest-end sports cars could take advantage of the technologies,” he said. “Above all, we must ensure that the Bugattis of tomorrow remain attractive to our customers.”
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IMHO...
...I believe Bugatti's decision for a second model is based not just on what they see the brand needs to grow, or what the market will bear, but also what spaces the VW Group needs to better compete in. Audi has no direct competitor for the Range Rover, GLS and the new X7, or a platform of that size to build one. Teaming a full size SUV architecture with Bugatti, Audi and Bentley, could give them the economy of scale that the VW Group likes to work with. The problem may come from the lay out of the back bones of the platform itself. While most enthusiast would love that the donor "bones" came from that of the fabulous Panamera, Audi tends to favor the FWD/AWD arrangement for there underpinnings. While that might not make a difference to Bugatti and Bentley, the VW Group has no FWD platforms that big to my knowledge. This would mean that they would have to start from scratch, which the VW Group may resist due to the cost of development. If they were able to work those issues out, the next questions would be: How big and what power planet? The Bugatti wouldn't have to be the biggest of the three, but running a detuned W16 might be more engine such an SUV would need. I say this because unlike the Veyron and the Chiron, this Bug has the potential to be used as a daily driver, while the coupes probably are not! A W12 with quad turbos? Ahhhh, maybe! Such a beast would definitely give the Rolls Royce Cullian a reason to be afraid to wonder into the woods after dark!
Well, why not?
It’s the popular model of Car the SUV especially in the luxurious sector, and if your a Bugatti owner you’ll want an SUV to compliment your Car, well, why wouldn’t you?, two car Families often by the same brand.
I don't in principle have a
I don't in principle have a problem with oofy types having £1mln+ cars, just as I don't with their £20mln+ homes. Surely though, a home can have a suite of security systems, but how relaxed can you be on the road in a 7 figure car? A hypercar would be fine for special occasions, but when exactly would you use a Bugatti SUV? Once a year for the polo at Cowdray Park?