But it will be a couple of years before production starts. That's the nature of precision craftsmanship.
Bugatti's recently departed director of design, Achim Anscheidt, has revealed that the successor to the Bugatti Chiron is complete. Speaking with Autocar, the former design boss said: “The car is finished. We delivered the prototype tooling a couple of months ago, and the production tooling will be delivered in a couple of months from now.”
Anscheidt leaves the job after 19 years in the role but will remain close to the inner workings of Molsheim's premier car brand, serving as an advisor to Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac. As the last car developed under his stewardship of the brand's design, this is quite an important vehicle to Anscheidt, and he says that it's important for Bugatti, too, as it must “bring forward” the brand into a new era.
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He says that the as-yet-unnamed successor “was something that was more of a thinking exercise, especially on the interior, and everything I have tried to learn and comprehend over the last 19 years with Bugatti, I wanted to make sure this experience funnels into the car's development.” That sounds an awful lot like the styling direction of the brand will change, but it should still be instantly recognizable as the new car will retain trademark styling elements like the 'Bugatti line' beltline and the horseshoe front grille. The former has been a signature styling cue since the 1934 Type 57.
Anscheidt also makes it clear that it was important “not [to] be drawn into some kind of styling exercise,” indicating that the Chiron replacement will not be overstyled or vulgar.
But what of the underpinnings?
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We know it will not be all-electric, and neither will any other Bug product for the next decade, but it will be electrified. Autocar reports that the new hypercar will be built atop a new chassis and should be “leaner” than the Bugatti W16 Mistral because it will be powered by a smaller V8 engine with electric assistance. After the 8.0-liter 16-cylinder engine, a V8 seems a touch ordinary, but we're sure Bugatti will find a way to make it special. After all, in the words of founder Ettore, “If it is comparable, it is no longer Bugatti.”
Bugatti design director Frank Heyl also told the publication that the Chiron successor would “be even more amazing” than the Mistral, adding, “It's going to be amazing, proportionally, technologically, in terms of innovation, in terms of unexpectedness. It's going to blow people out of the water completely, and it's a true joy to work on this.”
Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac previously announced that the car would be “totally bonkers,” so we're glad to hear others on the team are just as enthused.
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Inside, we can expect less of a revolutionary change, with the cabin likely to be familiar to previous buyers, slightly evolving what is currently offered by the French brand, according to Bugatti interior designer Aldo Maria Sica. However, you can bet on a little more screen real estate.
So when does it arrive? Bugatti has confirmed we will see the new hypercar in 2024 with a market launch in 2026. Earlier reports said it would arrive in 2027. Why will it take so long?
For one thing, Bugatti is still expanding its HQ before the new car can be manufactured. In addition, the attention to detail inherent to every Bugatti product means long wait times. That's actually a good thing. Because Bugatti delivers fewer than 100 cars per year, it can continue to sell internal combustion engines beyond 2035, unlike Lamborghini, for example.
Sadly, an EV is inevitable at some point, and that's why Bugatti is hybridizing the Chiron replacement. And since Bugatti won't chase top speed records anymore, this could mark the end of an era in more ways than one.
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Keyword: Bugatti Chiron Replacement Almost Ready To Be Unveiled