Bugatti

Currently under the ownership of Volkswagen AG, French manufacturer Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. was founded in 1909 in the German city of Molsheim, Alsace by Ettore Bugatti under the name of Automobiles Ettore Bugatti. After the death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 and his son Jean Bugatti in 1939, the marque struggled until being bought for it’s airplane parts business in 1963. The 1990’s saw the brand purchased by an Italian entrepreneur, who revived the company and started producing exclusive sports cars again. 1998 saw Volkswagen purchase the Bugatti trademark which was incorporated Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. the following year.

Most well known for their exclusive high end supercars, Bugatti has a deep history of beautiful design and many victories on the race track. The revival in the 90’s saw the introduction of the EB110, which failed to excite the market, with the new Bugatti languishing against it’s rivals. The take-over by Volkswagen has proven to be very successful for the brand, with a new found identity and confidence placing Bugatti as once again a world renowned car manufacturer.

The key to this success has been the Bugatti Veyron. Labelled as a Concorde moment in automotive history by Top Gears Jeremy Clarkson, the Veyron changed the game for everyone. Not only did the Veyron light the fire of a new arms race to the highest top speed for a road car, it achieved the feat with a steady no-fuss attitude never seen before in such a vehicle. The way the Veyron gained and maintained speed was unlike any other car, and proved to be a huge sales victory with production exceeding the initial scope due to high demand. Now Bugatti stands as one of the worlds premier supercar manufacturers, producing very fast, exclusive high end automobiles.

The future of Bugatti is now in the hands of Rimac, with Volkswagen Group relinquishing control to the electric car specialists. The immediate plan to move Bugatti into hybrid powertrains for the first decade or so before eventually going full electric.