Before the 1,500-horsepower Chiron debuted this week, we had to wait some 12 years between all-new Bugatti models. Thankfully, we might not have to wait that long for the next one. That's because the French ultra-luxury brand is considering a four-door sedan and it appears it might be also considering an electrified vehicle.
“I can’t get the idea for a four-door limousine out of my head,” Wolfgang Duerheimer, head of Volkswagen AG, told Bloomberg at the Geneva Motor Show. “It’s one of the options we might look into again as a possible next project.”
Durheimer also mentioned, although Bugatti skipped electrification for the Chiron, “that doesn’t mean we abandon this topic forever.” And that's a smart move.
The Chiron's 16-cylinder engine isn't shared with any other VW Group vehicles, which limits the return on research and development investment for the other brands under the VW umbrella. However, an electrified Bugatti could share its technology with the Porsche Mission E Tesla-fighting sedan and the rumored Bentley EV as well.
Moreover, electrification is likely the only way to push the Bugatti brand's performance boundaries beyond the 1,500-horsepower mark. And it's not like it can sit still and offer a new model with the same power figures as the Chiron. Surely, the global glitterati wouldn't stand for it.
Really, it would behoove Bugatti to combine both the four-door limo idea and electrification into one. I mean, why not kill two birds with one insanely beautiful and expensive stone?
While Bugatti's braintrust might be mulling both a new powertrain and a new body style, there are apparently still limits to where the brand can go. When asked if Bugatti had any interest in building an SUV, Duerheimer simply said, "No."