Wild-Ass Rumor Of The Day: Bugatti By Audi

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Speaking of platform-sharing between brands, Volkswagen’s division of labor debates have been progressing this year with the result that Audi will develop the conglomerate’s SUVs, while Porsche is in charge of sportscar development, as well as the erector set that will become VW’s modular platform menace. Future luxury sedan development (think Porsche Panamera, Lamborghini Estoque and Bentleys) are also said to be the purview of Porsche, although the German newspaper Der Spiegel recently revealed that

Volkswagen’s boss recently decided that, in 2014, the brand will distance itself from sportscars, instead offering a sedan based on the Audi A8.

Which is an interesting choice. After all, the king of über-luxury sedans, the Rolls Phantom, is based on a unique platform, whereas the A8 shares greasy bits with even the lowly Volkswagen Phaeton. Initially the Bugatti sedan strategy was to build the most expensive luxury sedan (as envisioned by the Galibier Concept) on the market to out-Phantom the Phantom, while (VW-owned) Bentley nips at its heels with the new Mulsanne, but that plan fell apart as a worldwide recession took hold. Now the idea seems to be to create something considerably more modest and brand-engineered… which doesn’t sound like much of a payoff for the most superlative of modern brands. We’ll just have to wait and see where this goes.


Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Fusion Fusion on Jan 03, 2011

    The title of this article probably is very fitting: Wild-Ass Rumor... ;) I'd really like to know what the source is for this - as the Spiegel article doesn't even quote the usual "company insider", "unidentified board member", etc. It just writes about a VW board decision on building sedans, as if its a widely known fact - which kind of makes me think the author just threw a lot of stuff together in his head. (This happens surprisingly often in the german press - i.e. after Porsche got the job on developing large, sporty, RWD sedans the FTD had a editorial about Audi not building its own A8, even though the A8 is not RWD and will continue standing on the MLB as long as its used...) Oh, and Spiegel has now been carrying the "250 Veyrons sold" line since the Grand Sport was announced back in 2008...I am not sure if I should believe it anymore... ;)

  • The Doctor The Doctor on Jan 04, 2011

    I'm not quite sure I'd describe the A8 as sharing bits with the Phaeton - the latter has much more in common with the Bentley Flying Spur than the A8. What the article was probably referring to was the long-stated aim of VW to use Audi's MLB/MLP platform for future D-segment cars in the various brands.

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