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Known to insiders as one of the best-dressed executives in the auto biz, Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann also has served in some of the industry’s seeming dream jobs, as head of both Lamborghini and Audi Sport. Now he takes Bugatti into the future as the iconic French brand celebrates its 110th anniversary. But doing so is not without potential snarls.

The Chiron is supposed to top 300 mph, and your predecessor promised a top speed run by now. Is there a delay?

When I started at Bugatti, one of the first things I did was to test-drive the car. Being used to all the other supersports brands, I had never driven a Bugatti. For me it was so surprising and above all what I had experienced before. I was really blown away. Then I sat with my team and started asking about what is in the pipeline next and what is important. And I put my priorities in. To me, a top speed run is not on the agenda. For me, performance has a lot of facets, and the Chiron besides being a hypercar is a car covering a lot more than other supersports cars. When I read in the past about the car and what we communicated about it, we were missing a big part of what the car is all about. You have cars of nice designs or others that are supersports cars that are fast and performing. It is much more important than showing one little slice of what this car is able to do. In this world, to talk only top speed is not a priority for me.

What does 110 years mean to Bugatti?

We have to think that the brand is much more than what the Chiron is. We are looking into Ettore Bugatti and what he did. He was passionate to a level of perfection that was incredible at that time. We have to explore more than just looking at top speed. Being a French company, it is important that we emphasize the past racing cars like the T35, the limousines, and GTs like Atlantique. You put those three cars together, plus the Veyron that kick-started the brand. All these have elements of performance, luxury, and being good looking.

The legacy is to increase the value and being here even in a half century from now. These cars have value that is accepted by everybody. It’s not just about scarcity like the T35, where the value is so high it’s incredible. You cannot change history, and Bugatti has a hole between the 1950s and the end of the ’80s. But this is part of the brand, and it makes the brand different from all the others.

Do you see the Divo as a Chiron variant?

With the Divo, my first exercise, I looked at what we can do as a different approach in terms of performance, because we are known for longitudinal acceleration and top speed—and we’ve been limited to 261 mph (420 kph), which for me is enough. I personally did more than [250 mph], which for me was exciting, but when I went on the handling part of the course, this was equally if not more exciting—accelerating, braking, getting into and out of corners. The idea with Divo translated into design, weight reduction, and more downforce to really showcase that top speed is important but not everything.

The Nardo circuit has a handling [circuit], and there is so much we can do with an existing car. We have a lot of ideas for the future. We are constantly looking for new ideas, to test ourselves to see how quickly a product can be realized and see market reaction. We sold the Divo in four weeks’ time then showed it at Pebble Beach, and for me, everything was done in a way that could be controlled. It was an incredible success, even to someone like me who expects a lot.

There was a Supersport version of Veyron. … Is the $5 million Divo the Chiron’s version of that, or will there be something in between Chiron Sport and Divo?

With an unlimited budget there would be room for incredible things. The Chiron Sport is not a supersport, and it is not a Divo. The Divo is outside the Chiron business.

Will Bugatti look to reprise the success of the Vitesse version of the Veyron with a convertible Chiron?

We decided in the Chiron project not to do an open-top version.

Is Bugatti a one-model company? Are there plans for a second model line?

Ettore Bugatti did more than one car; he did many body styles, four-door, two-door, open car—whatever was possible, he tried to do. The brand today, 20 years after the restart, we are ready for more than one model. Not to say we can do it, but the brand is ready. We have to find the resources and many priorities in the Volkswagen Group. If we did a second model, it would enter into a different segment. With the 110th anniversary celebration, we can most assuredly look back and celebrate our roots and look into France and what Ettore has done. But to look into the future is much more important. We have to have the legacy of tomorrow, the icons—not just making a statement today. We have to do something we subscribe to as being what Bugatti stands for today but also something greater for tomorrow. It’s on us to shape the future.

Some media reports claim you said the second Bugatti will be an SUV.

I never said we are building a Bugatti SUV. The press said it because I pushed for the Urus at Lamborghini. Coming from my background, what I said is that we are looking into every segment, body style, and region. It has to be an approach good for the world and not one part. We have an idea of where we want to go.

It’s not about volumes, but in terms of visibility, if you sell 100 cars or 1,000 cars, there’s still no visibility. But we cannot do a copy of what we do today. So a second car has to enable us to sell more than we sell today. It would be a different segment with a different price tag, but above all the other competition. The price is not about positioning Bugatti out of this world. It’s about innovation, about materials, craftsmanship, all the things that are important to create a car which survives longer than the others and becomes a collectors’ item.

How does the business model work for Bugatti? How many Chirons do you have to sell to be profitable? Are you sold out of the current model run of 500?

We are selling all 500. If you want one now, you have to wait until second part of 2021. So we’re not doubting that. What we have to do is create out of one model a brand, a car company, which is creating news, not only for the few lucky owners but to build into the myth of Bugatti. It is not easy to achieve because we had to do it in a way that is consistent. With the leverage we have, we can do more.

What is the volume split between North America, Europe, China, the Middle East, etc?

The biggest market is the U.S. Then we have U.K., Germany, and Switzerland in Europe, then the Middle East and Japan. We have no homologation for China and no plans for it. But we have customers in China despite this. The willingness to own a Bugatti is so strong.

Bugatti has been a passion project of VW paterfamilias Ferdinand Piech for many years. What happens to Bugatti after he no longer has such influence?

I have always taken a profit/loss and 360 approach in my career—at Fiat, at Lamborghini, and Audi Sport. And I will take the same approach for Bugatti, to create a value out of it that would be high enough to reinvest and make money for shareholders. I compare it to being a designer confronted with so many issues—crash safety, the quality of gaps and profiles, fuel consumption, passenger space—which makes a big difference between being that and being an artist who has no limits. If you want a powerful, strong brand, you can’t do it without thinking of investment and return on investment. There is a weight you carry as CEO, and I take this seriously. I know the one way. And I would act the same way if I had joined Bugatti 30 years ago.

What happens to Bugatti when the next recession hits?

It happened to me at Lamborghini. It’s clear you have to be humble enough to understand what you cannot do anymore and what you can continue to do. The market is cyclical and has ups and downs, but that is not going to stop our long-term strategy for Bugatti in general.

Where is Bugatti in 10 years?

Wow. Bugatti is ready for more. There is an opportunity of a product range that could be all electrified. With a headquarters in France. A global presence [in China] which today we don’t have. And amongst the hypercars, we could still be the shining star.

The post Bugatti Not Attempting Chiron Top Speed Run appeared first on MotorTrend.

The Detroit Big Three are cutting cars left and right in favor of SUVs and crossovers. Just last week, General Motors announced it would discontinue six car models and stop allocating funds to the plants that make them, and earlier this year Ford said it would shed all cars in the U.S. except the Mustang. Toyota sees the storm coming, too, and is carefully considering which vehicles it will sell in this market. Still, Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz believes the automaker’s U.S. lineup will always be car-heavy.

Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club this week, Lentz acknowledged that car sales dipped below 30 percent of overall sales in November, a figure he believes is close to bottoming out. Despite that, he noted consumers are still purchasing more than 4 million compact, midsize, and near-luxury cars every year.

“There’s no way I’m going to walk away from that,” Lentz said. “We are always going to have a bias toward passenger cars.”

According to the Associated Press, passenger car sales are on track to fall short of 2017 levels by about 800,000 units. Meanwhile, truck and SUV sales are expected to increase by the same amount. This trend is reflected in Toyota’s own sales report, which shows total car sales volume down about 108,000 units (-11.6 percent year over year) and total truck sales up by roughly 98,000 units (8.8 percent) through November. Lentz predicts car sales in 2018 will be even poorer than in 2010, when the financial crisis was in full swing. “There is a depression on the passenger car side,” he said.

Despite that, Lentz says Toyota will continue to lean heavily on cars like the midsize Camry and the recently introduced Corolla hatchback and sedan. Through November, Toyota has sold roughly 314,000 Camrys and 278,000 Corollas, making those models the company’s second and third best-selling vehicles, respectively, behind the RAV4 at roughly 389,000 units.

But that doesn’t mean all of its cars will be spared. As we previously reported, Toyota is looking to cut underperforming models from its U.S. portfolio. The most likely candidates for the chopping block include the subcompact Yaris, 86 sports coupe, and Prius C.

2020 Toyota Corolla sedan and hybrid pictured below

Source: AP

The post Toyota U.S. CEO: Lineup Will Always Have Bias Toward Cars appeared first on MotorTrend.

If you store your C5, C6 or C7 Corvettes for the winter or longer, you should watch this video from Paul Koerner, a GM World Class Technician who can be found wrenching on Corvettes at Jackson Chevrolet in Middletown, CT.

In his latest facebook video, Paul highlights Chevrolet engineering’s recommendations for storing C5, C6 and C7 Corvettes with only a quarter tank of gas.

Continue reading [VIDEO] Why You Should Store Your C5/C6/C7 Corvette With Just a Quarter Tank of Fuel at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

Toyota will debut the Supra at the Detroit auto show, and it turns out Lexus has a treat for us as well. The 2020 Lexus RC F Track Edition will also make its way to the show in January.

Despite what the name suggests, the RC F Track Edition is a purpose-built vehicle, not an accessory package. It will join the lineup in “very, very limited production,” according to Robert Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America.

“With the exception of LFA, this is the fastest, most powerful vehicle we’ve ever built,” Carter told journalists at an event in Detroit. So while the model is expected to be less potent than the LFA, which makes 562 hp with the Nurburgring package, it sounds like it will still pack a very powerful punch. A teaser image of the car shows a sweet rear wing with carbon-fiber end plates, which appear to have the F emblem somehow woven into them. It’s a neat touch that’s likely a result of Toyota’s big investment in carbon fiber production.

The regular RC F is already powerful, making 467 hp from its naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V-8 engine. It’s also quick; we tested a 2015 RC F hitting 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. In the past, we’ve praised the car’s handling and power, but we think its heavy curb weight holds it back.

Carter hinted at “one more surprise” for the Detroit auto show in addition to the RC F Track Edition. We’re not really sure what it could be at this point, but we think we’ll have a better idea closer to the Track Edition’s reveal on January 14.

Frank Markus contributed to this report.

Source: Lexus

The post 2020 Lexus RC F Track Edition is Brand’s Second Most Powerful Model appeared first on MotorTrend.

Just a week after debuting at the L.A. auto show, the 2019 Honda Passport has entered production in Alabama. The crossover will go on sale early next year.

The Passport joins the Odyssey, Ridgeline, and Pilot which Honda also produces at its plant in Alabama. Like its siblings, the Passport makes use of the Honda Global Light Truck platform. All four vehicles have a 3.5-liter V-6 engine good for 280 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque.

The facility in Lincoln, Alabama, can make 340,000 vehicles and V-6 engines per year. Since production went online in November 2001, Honda has made more than 4.7 million vehicles and engines at the plant. Investment has exceeded $2.6 billion at the 4.6 million square-foot facility located 40 miles east of Birmingham.

The Passport will slot between the CR-V and the Pilot in Honda’s lineup. The five-seater was built with off-road capability in mind, boasting more ground clearance than the CR-V and Pilot and different driving modes for snow, sand, and mud. The Passport comes standard with Honda Sensing, which includes forward collision warning, collision mitigation braking, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, road departure mitigation, and adaptive cruise control.

Expect pricing information to come relatively soon as we edge closer to the Passport’s arrival in dealerships.

Source: Honda

The post 2019 Honda Passport Enters Production appeared first on MotorTrend.

Wanna go fast? Hang on and enjoy the monstrous sounds of the 755-hp Corvette ZR1!

Over the Thanksgiving week break, Corvette Racing legend and Corvette Hall of Famer Ron Fellows shared this PDR video of a hot lap in a 2019 ZR1 at the Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club, located about an hour outside of Las Vegas, NV.

Continue reading [VIDEO] Ron Fellows Takes a Hot Lap at Spring Mountain in the 2019 Corvette ZR1 at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

The 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD debuted this week, and let’s just say not everyone is a big fan of how it looks. Now, General Motors is revealing the High Country model, which has a tamer grille than some other variants.

The High Country sits at the top of the Silverado HD lineup. Below it are four trim levels: Work Truck, Custom, LT, and LTZ. The different trims offer different design cues, so one truck could look quite different from the next.

The High Country’s grille consists of horizontal slats rather than the oval-shaped cutouts we saw on the LT model that debuted earlier this week. The High Country also features the classic bow tie instead of the stamped “Chevrolet” bar. Take a closer look at the grille, and you’ll notice the High Country’s exclusive two-tone metallic trim. GM is also using a mix of black, body color, and chrome trim to differentiate between the various models in the lineup.

Buyers have the choice of two powertrains. GM isn’t spilling the beans on the new direct-injected gasoline engine, but it’s rumored to be a Navistar-sourced 6.6-liter V-8 from MD Trucks. This engine will come paired to a six-speed automatic transmission. The other option is a Duramax turbo-diesel V-8 that pairs to a 10-speed Allison automatic and delivers 910 lb-ft of torque.

The 2020 Silverado HD goes on sale in mid-2019.

Source: GM

The post 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD High Country Flaunts Unique Grille appeared first on MotorTrend.

Thanks so much for our friend and contributor Jeremy Welborn who spotted this new patent for a GT Emblem design by General Motors. Could this GT emblem be coming for the C8 Mid-Engine Corvette?

If you read that epic post on the Corvette Forum by a user named unlimitedPower who discussed GM’s Bold Plan for the C8 Corvette, you know that one of his predictions was that in 2021 Chevrolet would reveal two variants of the C8 Mid-Engine Corvette, a Grand Sport model that would take the Z06’s place in the hierarchy of Corvette Performance, and a Grand Tour model that is described as a luxury touring sports car.

Continue reading Did GM Design and Patent a New GT Emblem for the C8 Corvette? at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

If you are restoring a C4 ZR-1 or just want to have one of the most distinctive Chevy V8 small blocks offered in a Corvette for your next project, then check out this crated LT5 engine being offered for sale on the Facebook Marketplace.

The engine in today’s spotlight was sealed up on July 14, 1993, with the packing slip saying it was destined for a 1995 model year Corvette.

Continue reading Original, Sealed LT5 engine for a 1995 Corvette ZR-1 Offered on the Facebook Marketplace at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.