For years, high-performance luxury manufacturer Bugatti has only had one vehicle in its line-up, but that may soon change with mounting pressure to appeal to a wider demographic.
We saw it first with Lamborghini, an extremely exclusive manufacturer that stayed true to supercars before releasing the controversial Urus, which boosted the brand's global sales drastically.
Bugatti could potentially jump on this cash grab with a second model that's more suited to daily driving, according to a recent interview that CEO Stephan Winkelman did with Autocar.
When asked outright if the brand is working on another model, Winkelman didn't simply say "yes", but instead spun a yarn about how it probably is going to happen, but he can't confirm anything just yet.
“If we speak about a second model as Bugatti, I am convinced we don’t have to do a car which is only for weekends. This is a car to be used on a daily basis. It has to have a different shape [to the Chiron] and have a different mission,” he said. “If we do something outside of the hyper sports car business, there will be a car that is not in the direction of the W16. In my opinion, electrification would be the right approach.”
Currently, the French marque only sells the ultra-exclusive Chiron, which is a W16-powered hypercar that's capable of over 400km/h. Or in other words — not the best car for commuting.
While the general consensus is that Bugatti will fill this second slot with a large, luxurious SUV, it wouldn't be surprising to see a sedan come from the brand either.
According to Winkelmann, the Volkswagen Group have the final say at the end of the day, and it has to see profit in building a second model that will only sell in small numbers.
“For Bugatti, it is a good opportunity and could be a winner. But I also see that a big group like VW Group has a lot of priorities. It is in the midst of an electrification revolution and it must decide where to spend its money,” Winkelmann said. “A second model would mean doubling the size of the company or more. It’s clear we need 100% commitment from everybody – it’s not enough that I’m convinced!”
While it would make sense to see the future Bugatti share a platform with an existing VW SUV such as the Audi Q8, Winkelmann was adamant that the future B-badged beauty will sit on a bespoke, Bugatti platform.