Bugatti Automobiles SAS

For an overview of the marque, see Bugatti.

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. is a French automobile manufacturer located in the French town of Molsheim, Alsace, France. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, and was founded in 1998 as a successor to the legendary Bugatti company.

At the urging of then-chairman Ferdinand Piëch, Volkswagen purchased the rights to produce cars under the Bugatti marque in 1998. This followed the purchase of Lamborghini (for VW's Audi division), the Rolls-Royce factory in Crewe, England, and the Bentley marque.

Giugiaro Concept Cars

Volkswagen commissioned ItalDesign's Giorgetto Giugiaro to design a series of concept cars to return the marque to prominence. The first example, the EB 118, was a two-door coupé and was introduced at the Paris Motor Show in 1998. It was followed by the four-door EB 218 touring sedan, introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1999. Later that year, the 18/3 Chiron was shown at the IAA in Frankfurt. The final Bugatti concept was not designed by ItalDesign: the VW-designed EB 18/4 GT was introduced at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show.

All of these early concepts featured a 555hp DIN (408kW) 18-cylinder engine. This was the first-ever W-configuration engine on a passenger vehicle, with three banks of six cylinders. It shared many components with Volkswagen's modular engine family.

Official Incorporation

On December 15, 2000, Volkswagen officially incorporated Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., with former VW drivetrain chief Karl-Heinz Neumann as president. The company purchased the 1856 Château Saint Jean, formerly Ettore Bugatti's guest house in Dorlisheim, near Molsheim, and began refurbishing it to serve as the company's headquarters. The original factory was still in the hands of Snecma, who were unwilling to part with it. At the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August 2000, VW announced that they would instead build a new modern atelier (factory) next to and south of the Château. The atelier was officially inaugurated on September 3, 2005.