Wednesday 5th January 2011

Veyron Dies In 2014 In Favour Of A8-Based Saloon

Bugatti will drop Veyron hypercar to make super-saloon - will it be the 16C Galibier?

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Galibier concept could hint at future saloon

A report by German magazine Der Spiegel has revealed that Bugatti is working on a super-luxury saloon loosely based on the Audi A8 for 2014 - and that the Veyron will have to die to make room for it.

Part of the reason is that a large proportion of Bugatti's potential customers already own a Veyron, so sales have slowed dramatically, but VW is also said to be calling on Bugatti to pull its weight. Currently, the marque does not turn a profit for VW, and so needs to increase its sales volumes to do so - and a luxury saloon is seen as the way to do it.

But while the basic platform architecture may be shared with a humble Audi A8, the result could still end up closely resembling the 16C Galibier concept car that wowed Bugatti fans back in 2009.

The 16C Galibier concept is an ultra-luxurious, all-wheel-drive saloon powered by the same 8.0-litre, W16 engine as in the Veyron, but producing somewhere between 789bhp and 987bhp. Just how much of that will make it to Bugatti's planned production car, however, remains to be seen.

[M666 EVO]

Bonkers figures... like it!

[Mastodon2]

This isn't new, it was in Top Gear magazine back in the summer, take that "German magazine"!

Looks totally menacing, though I suppose in a way it's sad the Veyron has to go. On the other side of the coin though, nothing should hang around too long and risk outstaying it's welcome.

[Petrolhead_Rich]

Sounds good to me

[soad]

Impressive spec, no doubt. Looks rather good too.

[Agoogy]

I like the idea of this business model....
Build the best 'sports car' you can.... sell a few, exhaust your market/demographic
Change car type - build the best...sell a fe and exhaust THAT market/demographic
Change car type....
Limit the types of car and after a decade or two come back around and start again!

[myhandle]

If they really make the Veyron until 2014 it will have been in production for 9 years. I thought Bugatti said they would make something like 350 coupes, 150 GrandSports and 50 SuperSports? If it's in production until 2014 it means there will be a few more limited edition versions per these numbers.

[drewbagz]

That still gives Bugatti 3 years to develop a Super Super Sport which can break the 300mph barrier. Bring it on!

[J4CKO]

So, as a trim level, is this above or below S-Line ?

[jake15919]

Does anyone actually read the article anymore or do they just look at the picture and scan down for performance figures?

Story is about a possible future production car based on the A8, not about the Galibier.

[Petrolhead_Rich]

J4CKO said:

So, as a trim level, is this above or below S-Line ?

Doesn't matter, the wheels will be nicked for a bloody A3 with tinted windows "innit"

[icebite78]

Mastodon2 said:

This isn't new, it was in Top Gear magazine back in the summer, take that "German magazine"!

Looks totally menacing, though I suppose in a way it's sad the Veyron has to go. On the other side of the coin though, nothing should hang around too long and risk outstaying it's welcome.

Why? Porsche 911 is still here!

Edited by icebite78 on Wednesday 5th January 12:14

Edited by icebite78 on Wednesday 5th January 12:15

[dan tournay]

Isn't this going to conflict with Bentley?

[kambites]

dan tournay said:

Isn't this going to conflict with Bentley?

No more than the Veyron conflicted with Lamborghini, I would have thought.

[Pothole]

Petrolhead_Rich said:

J4CKO said:

So, as a trim level, is this above or below S-Line ?

Doesn't matter, the wheels will be nicked for a bloody A3 with tinted windows "innit"

just for the imagine?

[havoc]

Hmmm...the "ultimate" rich-man's brand becomes yet another VAG platform-sharer...I can see that going down really well when they want to charge >£1/2m for the car!

dan tournay said:

Isn't this going to conflict with Bentley?

Only if they pitch it at Bentley prices - I bet they're going to aim much higher - target RR instead.

[Great Pretender]

J4CKO said:

So, as a trim level, is this above or below S-Line ?

One can only 'imagine'.

[k-ink]

Not the first time for a W engined VAG saloon. Mine fell apart at 40k miles. I'm sure ownership will be fun

[kambites]

havoc said:

Only if they pitch it at Bentley prices - I bet they're going to aim much higher - target RR instead.

I doubt even that. I'd expect this to be pitched well above RR.

[GFWilliams]

When they stop producing the Veyron, the values of the Veyron should take a nice little rise....

[Mr Gearchange]

Urgh. Looks like a cut and shut using the front of a 7 series and the rear of a Panamera.

Nasty.