Bugatti Chief of Design Achim Anscheidt is stepping down after nearly 20 years at the supercar maker, helping to deliver W-16-powered icons like the Veyron Super Sport and Chiron supercars, the pinnacle of the Volkswagen Group’s performance offerings. He will now become a special adviser to the relatively new Bugatti CEO, Mate Rimac, and his chief design duties will be taken over by his deputy, Frank Heyl. Anscheidt’s final Bugatti design will be the hybrid-powered successor to the Chiron, which has been detailed for the first time by a report from Autocar.
The announcement on Bugatti’s website claims that, in 2021, CEO Rimac asked Anscheidt to stay at the company for another three years to spearhead the design of the Chiron successor, which is now coming into focus. According to Anscheidt speaking to Autocar, the initial design direction for the Chiron successor reportedly comes from the same place as that of the Veyron and Chiron, which is Bugatti’s rich history of beautiful and elegant sporting design: “The Veyron, the Chiron and the successor to the Chiron all share this one thing. They are not race cars for the road. They are the pinnacle of ‘grand tourisme’ development. They are an intriguing mixture of a nimble Type 35, the luxury of the Type 41 Royale and the peerless elegance of the Type 57 SC Atlantic.”
Based on Autocar‘s report, the future Bugatti supercar will feature a hybridized V-8 powertrain, replacing the iconic W-16 powerplant that’s been in every Veyron, Chiron, and special edition since the engine was developed for the first Veyron back in the early 2000s. Autocar’s render shows a combination of Chiron and Bolide design cues, including the X-shaped headlights.
The new supercar is expected to ride on an all-new chassis to better incorporate the newly introduced batteries to power the hybrid setup. Autocar reports we can expect the unmistakable horseshoe grille and signature belt line design elements of Bugatti’s most iconic models will carry over to the next car, but it should have enough style to stand apart from what’s come so far.
Anscheidt adds: “It will also have its constraints because of performance and performance needs. But we know every [centimeter] of our cars so well by now that we know exactly where [change] would help us and where it would create a problem.” According to Anscheidt, the development has finished and production tooling is now gearing up. We can expect the Chiron successor to debut next year ahead of a planned 2026 launch, with a price that could potentially top the recent Bugatti Mistral’s mind-numbing $5 million price tag.
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