Geneva. To cut waiting times on its Veyron sports car, Bugatti is increasing output at its production facility in Molsheim, France.
"We want to take our annual capacity to 70 units, up from the 50 that were originally planned," said Bugatti President Thomas Bscher, in an interview with Automobilwoche at the Geneva Motor Show.
"We are hoping that will sharply cut waiting periods, which are now at 14 to 15 months. That's much too long," Bscher said.
Sales of the Veyron, which costs 1 million euros plus taxes, or about $1.19 million at current exchange rates, have been running better than expected with more than 70 firm contracts, Bscher said.
U.S. customers are especially pressing for the earliest possible delivery schedules.
With certification for the United States recently approved, the largest portion of the completed 14 Veyrons will be shipped immediately to the United States. Bscher sees the greatest sales potential for the remainder of production also in North America.
Bscher estimates that about 10 percent of Roll-Royce's annual production is sold by the automaker's dealer in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Both the greater New York area and southern California "are immensely important for Bugatti," he said.
German sales
Bscher expects sales of 15 Veyrons a year in Germany.
With its 16-cylinder engine and seven-gear, direct-shift transmission, the Veyron is also a complicated vehicle. To help customers and dealers, the company has teamed up with 20 Bentley centers around the world for technical and after-sales service.
In extremely urgent cases, Bugatti's "flying doctors" will fly out to a customer to service a Veyron, Bscher said.
Separately, Bscher said there is a good chance the brand will get a second model.
"Another model could quickly follow the phase-out of the Veyron," Bscher said. "Since we might be finished with the production run more quickly than we at first thought, due to the increase in output, we should make a decision soon," he said.
The absolute requirement for any new Bugatti is that it makes money. Moreover, it would have to adapt to the Volkswagen portfolio so that it doesn't compete with Bentley, Bscher said.
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