Currently, the only Swedish cars available new in the United States wear a Volvo emblem on the radiator grille. A second Swedish automaker is about to join the party, and it’s not the moribund one that is known for building Griffin-badged cars in Trollhättan.
Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg has announced plans to return to the U.S. after a brief hiatus with two fully street-legal models. The first will be the Agera, a low-slung V8-powered supercar available in S tune with 1,040 horsepower or in R tune with a mighty 1,140 horsepower. The Agera R (pictured) can reach 62 mph from a stop in 2.8 seconds – nearly on par with a Bugatti Veyron – before going on to a top speed of about 273 mph.
The second member of the Koenigsegg lineup will be an all-new model that will likely be introduced at next March’s Geneva Motor Show. It should be noted that a single example of the outlandish, 1,341-horsepower One:1 will be offered for sale in the United States but it’s not street legal so it will be imported under the “show and display” law.
The first Koenigsegg dealer in the United States will be Manhattan Motorcars in New York City. Manhattan Motorcars was a natural choice for the company because it has a long history of selling and servicing high-end cars built by companies like Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rolls-Royce and even Spyker. Three more dealers will be opened in undisclosed locations across North America over the course of 2015.
Power, luxury and exclusivity come at a hefty price: Car & Driver reports that the Agera will cost $1,650,000 before options are factored in, a figure that makes it roughly four times as expensive as a Lamborghini Aventador. In spite of its cars’ astronomical price tag, Koenigsegg is confident that setting up shop in the United States will allow it to boost production to about 23 hand-built units a year.
