Bugatti might be the king of hypercars, but it has been in a bit of a holding pattern recently. However, the head of the company, Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, knows exactly where to go next, and it doesn’t involve either the rumored SuperVeyron or the four-door Galibier.
In an interview with Top Gear, Schreiber, who by the way could not look more like a stereotypical German accountant if he tried, quashed these rumors firmly.
Regarding the potential for a new hysterically powerful Veyron he said simply: “We will not produce a ‘SuperVeyron’ or Veyron Plus, definitely. There will be no more power. 1200PS is enough for the chapter of Veyron and its derivatives.” This might be a bit disappointing for people like me, who loved the seemingly impossible achievements of the Veyrons.
The mighty Bugatti’s platform is now almost a decade old, and it may be difficult even for the most dour humorless engineers in the world to get much more out of it. And the most dour of them all, Dr. Schreiber, ought to know; afterall, he played a huge role in the car’s design.
So if we aren’t getting a more powerful Veyron, what can we expect from the world’s most insane car company?
It won’t be the four door Galibier concept. Schreiber explained: “We have talked many, many times about the Galibier, but this car will not come because … it would confuse our customers. With the Veyron, we placed Bugatti on top of all super-sportscar brands in the whole world. Everyone knows that Bugatti is the ultimate super sportscar. It’s easier for current owners, and others who are interested, to understand if we do something similar to the Veyron [next]. And that is what we will do. There will not be a four-door Bugatti.”
That might be a shame, but what Bugatti has in mind sounds pretty spectacular. Schreiber said that Bugatti wants its next car to set the benchmark for performance the same way the Veyron did when it came out. What’s more, he hinted that Bugatti might take a hint from Porsche and McLaren and go for a hybrid drivetrain.
Whatever it is, it will have to come pretty soon. Bugatti is shutting down production of the Veyron after ten years in 2015. Bugatti, unlike many companies, can afford not to sell any cars for a few years because of its connection with VW. In fact, the Veyron lost lots of money for VW. But still, I would be surprised if the new car didn’t appear before late 2017.
If the new car is anywhere near as exciting as the Veyron, then it will be well worth the wait.
