According to a new report by Autocar, Bugatti has overhauled the Galibier super sedan’s design, and the new car is slated to get Volkswagen Group board review by late December.
We already knew that the Galibier project more or less received a green light for production, with a target launch date of 2013. Power will likely come from a modified version of the Veyron’s 1001-hp, quad-turbocharged, 8.0-liter W-16. Reports suggest the engine will ditch the quad-turbo setup for Galibier duty, but Bugatti CEO Wolfgang Durheimer has promised the engine’s output will still be in the four-figure range.
Interestingly, the car’s form may differ considerably from the concept shown in 2009. Durheimer told Autocar that the production car is “in the second half of the design phase,” and its shape has substantially changed. Many of these revisions have come from customer feedback (apparently, half of all Veyron owners have been privately shown the Galibierconcept), and is now longer, and sports a revised roofline aft of the B-pillars. As a result, the production car will offer more head and legroom to rear-seat passengers, while simultaneously improving entry and egress to the rear seats.
Once production of the Galibier commences, Bugatti expects to sell around five times as many of the super sedans as it did of the Veyron coupe. Sales numbers are expected to fall somewhere between 1000 and 1500 units, versus just 300 for the Veyron. Even so, expect a Veyron-esque price tag: early estimates suggest the car could retail for close to $2.5 million.
Source: Autocar
