Bugatti Automobiles SAS (Volkswagen France, VAG GROUP)

Bugatti Automobiles SAS (short name: Bugatti - Bugatti) is a French automobile manufacturer owned by Volkswagen France. This company is the revived automobile studio of Ettore Bugatti. The headquarters of the location in the historic site of the founding of the company in 1909 (1909-1964), on the estate of Château Saint Jean (fr. Château Saint Jean).

At the moment, the company is headed by the former head of Audi Sport Stefan Walkelmann. Before him was Wolfgang Dürheimer, who also had extensive experience with luxury brands and came to the position from Porsche. He is also currently responsible for development strategy for Bentley Motors and was previously Head of Research and Development at Porsche. The rather quick replacement of the CEO was rumored to be due to the failures of Bugatti Automobiles SAS in the development of electric cars. Previously, this position was held for a long time by Franz-Josef Paefgen, who retired, but continues to work in the company.

Traditionally, the factor and success in the development of luxury brands largely depends on valuable engineering personnel, primarily in the management of companies.

The Bugatti company, created by Ettore Bugatti, was closed in 1964, now, as in the case of Rolls-Roys, BMW is talking about the revival of the legendary brand, the rights to which were bought by the VAG Group.

Bugatti (1909-1963)

The Bugatti automobile studio was opened by its founder Ettore Bugatti in 1909. For the plant, the building of an abandoned dye house in the French city of Molsem was chosen.

The first car, which appeared in 1910, the Bugatti Type 13, took second place at the French Grand Prix in 1911, driven by E. Friedrich. This result was little expected from the new manufacturer, which made Ettore Bugatti pay attention.

A little later, the cars of Ettore Bugatti won races at Le Mans (1920), at the French Grand Prix in 1921.

Success was associated with technical solutions. For example, the Type 13 became the basis for the Bugatti Type 15, 17, 22 and 23, whose platform differed in chassis length. In addition, attention was paid to the technology and power of the internal combustion engine, all racing cars of that time from Bugatti were equipped with 16-valve engines. Flagship models like the Bugatti Type 18 were rated at 100 hp. and developed a speed of up to 160 km / h. The Bugatti Type 32, introduced in 1923, was the first sports car to focus on aerodynamic bodywork and sports car design.

The Bugatti Type 35 became one of the most successful racing sports cars of its time, with over 2,000 wins. These cars traditionally won first places at the Grand Prix, held at that time in European countries.

At this time, Ettore Bugatti paid attention to the luxury car segment, the Bugatti Type 41 Royale appeared. Due to the high price, the release was limited and amounted to only 6 pieces. A little later, the company is headed by Jean Bugatti, the son of Ettore Bugatti, under his leadership interesting solutions are proposed that can become the basis of automotive trends in our time. It was a question of a choice by clients of various modifications of bodies. Jean Bugatti dies on the highway in 1939.

After the end of World War II, Ettore Bugatti begins to fight the French government, which decided to nationalize the company, as was done with Renault. The lawsuit for the return of production was satisfied after the death of Bugatti in 1947.

The youngest son Roland Bugatti became the head of the company. In 1951, the Bugatti Type 101 based on the Bugatti Type 57 platform was shown at the Paris Motor Show, during this period the successful racing models Bugatti Type 251 and Bugatti Type 252 were developed.

In 1963, the production of Bugatti was sold by the family of the founder of the company Hispano-Suiza ("Spanish-Swiss Automobile Factory", Hispano-Suiza). At that time, the Spanish luxury car brand was owned by Pegaso, ENASA. The main specialization of the company were projects in the aerospace sector, Bugatti was closed in 1964.

BUGATTI AUTOMOBILI (1987-1995)

The rights to the Bugatti brand were purchased in 1987 by businessman Romano Artioli. Under his leadership, Bugatti Automobili SpA was founded. 45,000 drawings and projects of Bugatti were transferred to Artioli's ownership. Technically advanced developments made it possible to quickly open a full-fledged production in the Italian city of Campogalliano, for this reason, many motorists perceive Bugatti as an Italian brand.

The "Italian" roots of the new owner predetermined participation in the development of the ItalDesign studio, which later became part of the VAG GROUP. The atelier had to figure out the drawings of Ettore and Jean Bugatti ahead of their time. As a result, in 1990, at the Turin Motor Show, the Bugatti ID 90 double coupe concept with a glass top was presented. The design of the alloy wheels reproduces the ideas of the Bugatti Type 41 Royale.

In 1991, the company showed the public the Bugatti EB 110 GT supercar, a more powerful version of the Bugatti EB 110 SS appeared in 1992. The power of the first version was 553 hp, in the second - 611 hp. maximum speed, respectively, 342 and 351 km / h.

Even before the full payback of the Bugatti EB 110 GT, the company began production of a "luxury" sedan, with the desire to return to the big car business. In 1993, the ItalDesign Bugatti EB 112 was introduced, also ready for production. But already in 1994, Bugatti Automobili SpA began to have serious financial problems; in 1995, the manufacturer was declared bankrupt due to a debt of 125 million dollars. This was facilitated by the recession in the global economy, unsuccessful deals and fierce competition in the automotive market. Roman Artioli suggested that his company was deliberately bankrupt.

BUGATTI AUTOMOBILES (since 1998)

In 1998, thanks to the efforts of Ferdinand Piech, who headed the VAG Group, the rights to the Bugatti brand were acquired. The Château Saint-Jean was purchased for the headquarters. The historical production of Bugatti could not be redeemed, the facilities belong to Snecma (a French manufacturer of motors for the aerospace sector), but a new production with an atelier appeared nearby.

Bugatti's return to the market was marked by the presentation at the Paris Motor Show of the Bugatti EB 118 two-door coupe concept car, also designed by ItalDesign. Later, several more concept cars were introduced, including the Bugatti EB 118, which led to the production model Bugatti 18/3 Chiron, first presented in 1999 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. At the Tokyo Motor Show in 1999, the Bugatti 18/4 Veyron with an 18-cylinder engine and the Bugatti 16/4 Veyron with a 16-cylinder engine were introduced.

In 2001, the VAG Group founded Bugatti Automobiles SAS, led by Karl-Heinz Neumann. Already in a new capacity, he represented the Bugatti 16/4 Veyron at the Geneva Motor Show, a modification of 1001 hp.

From 2003 to 2007, Thomas Bscher held the position of head of the company. In 2007, Franz-Josef Paefgen, who led the company for about a decade and left his position due to retirement, became the head.

The cost of the Bugatti Veyron hypercar in some configurations exceeds 2 million euros, the serial production of the model began in 2005. Under the leadership of Paefgen, the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport roadster was developed, based on it in 2010, the Bugatti 16C Galibier and Bugatti Veyron Super Sport appeared with a record engine power that got into the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest production car. So far this record has not been broken by any other brand.

Under the leadership of Wolfgang Dürheimer, who has headed the company since 2011, the Bugatti Veyron high-speed roadster is being produced under the name Grand Sport Vitesse. In 2012, Wolfgang Schreiber took over as head of the company, in 2014 Wolfgang Dürheimer returned to the post, under his leadership the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo show car was created and presented at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. We are talking about the realized virtual version of the hypercar of the game Gran Turismo 6.

The latest favorite released by the company was the 2016 production Bugatti Chiron hypercar. It is equipped with an 8-liter W16 quad-turbo engine with 1,500 hp. and torque of 1600 N*m. The car develops a speed of 100 km/h in 2.4 s, 200 km/h in 6.1 s, 300 km/h in 13.1 s, 400 km/h in 32.6 s.

Future vector

In 2018, the head of the company, Stefan Winkelmann, presented a new version of the Chiron Sport at the Geneva Motor Show. Journalists were told that the design team was developing new cars, but the nature of the development of the brand has not yet been made public. Winkelman declined to reveal development details, but information was obtained from other sources. It is expected that the new Bugatti Chiron will receive new Michelin tires that will allow it to accelerate to a record cost of 450 km/h. The ex-head of the company, Wolfgang Dürheimer, noted that work is underway on the successor to the Chiron, perhaps it will be a four-door version, but in the e-car concept. It was also about returning to the Galibier concept proposed in 2009, but the final development details will not be known until the end of 2018.

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