With its quad-turbo W16 pumping out over 1000 horsepower and reaching speeds in excess of 250 mph, surpassing the Bugatti Veyron is no mean feat. Many have tried, but few have succeeded. Yet that is exactly what Bugatti's own engineers will have to achieve when it comes time to replace the Veyron with its successor.
What form that successor would take has been a subject of great debate and continued speculation. At first it was rumored to go downmarket as a roadster. Then it was expected to be a four-door. A lightweight exotic was said to be under development, while its new corporate overlords at Porsche seemed keen to relegate the marque altogether to coachbuilder status. In an emerging interview for Holland's AutoTelegraaf, however, CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen revealed that Bugatti is preparing to launch a new model to replace the Veyron in 2011 or 2012, and that despite restricting emissions and fuel economy regulations around the world, the new model would have to stand up to the performance standards set by the Veyron. Design will follow along the same theme as the Veyron, while Bugatti also considers a racing program, although what championship it would contend remains the subject of further speculation.
Rumors of Bugatti's demise have been greatly exaggerated, while rumors of a second Bugatti model have been confirmed. In a recent interview with an Arabian Gulf journal, Bugatti spokesman Julius Kruta revealed: "Even though it is not economically viable for us, we will do it again. We have bigger plans for the future and the next one from our stables will be even more expensive than the Veyron."
The use of the word "next" by industrial giant VW suggests that Bugatti is not preparing only one more model, but several. Previous reports suggested that Bugatti was working on Project Lydia, a track-oriented hyper-ultra-super-duper-car to eclipse even the Veyron's performance figures, although there are rumors that future models from the pinnacle automaker could include an über-luxury super-sedan, a smaller high-performance sports/luxury sedan and a $200k supercar. Although the first of those three would likely be positioned above Bentley's flagship Arnage, the second and third would provide direct competition for other products from the VW Group, like the Lamborghini Gallardo on the one hand and the Audi RS6 on the other...not that poaching each other's products has ever stopped Volks before. With the prospect of an expanding Bugatti looming on the horizon, we doubt anyone will take notice.
