2008 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Matthias Muller officially named VW Group CEO

While the vast number of rumors made it seem like a foregone conclusion, Porsche boss Matthias Muller has officially been named Volkswagen Group CEO to replace the recently resigned Martin Winterkorn. His contract runs through the end of February 2020, and until a replacement is found, Muller also gets to hang onto his old job as chairman of Porsche. At the same time, the VW Group Supervisory Board is announcing a massive structural reorganization across the entire company, with the new management model in place by the beginning of 2016. Contrary to previous rumors, Michael Horn remains as President and CEO of VW Group of America. The board wants a greater emphasis on brands and regions going forward, and the scale of this shift can be seen in the US. On November 1, VW Group business in the US, Mexico, and Canada is being combined under the leadership of current Skoda chairman Winfried Vahland. However contrary to previous rumors, Michael Horn remains as President and CEO of VW Group of America. Other brands are also seeing some significant changes mechanically. Porsche, Bentley, and Bugatti now fall under the Group's "sportscar and mid-engine toolkit." This means that the brands will start sharing standardized technical parts. A Chief Technical Officer across all of the company's brands will also start working toward future innovations. The new brand-centric view means the end of a group-wide production department. "Going forward, the brands and regions will also have greater independence with regard to production. So it follows that they should also hold the responsibility for these activities," Berthold Huber, interim Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said in the announcement. In a statement with the press release about his promotion, Muller promised to turn the company around after such an international crisis. He said: "My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group – by leaving no stone unturned and with maximum transparency, as well as drawing the right conclusions from the current situation. Under my leadership, Volkswagen will do everything it can to develop and implement the most stringent compliance and governance standards in our industry." Matthias Muller appointed CEO of the Volkswagen Group Muller remains Chairman of Porsche AG until a successor has been found Matthias Muller (62) has been appointed CEO of Volkswagen AG with immediate effect.

Even the Bugatti Veyron is subject to recalls

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration listed three recalls for the Bugatti Veyron today. Yes, even the super-rich have recalls on their cars. And being unable to afford a Veyron we can't help but feel a tiny amount of schadenfreude. One question not answered in these recalls: What's the loaner car when your Veyron is in the shop? The Basics: Bugatti will recall 72 examples of the 2006-2010 Veyron with manufacturing dates between October 3, 2006, and January 17, 2010, and the 2010-2011 Veyron Grand Sport from between September 29, 2009, to June 30, 2010. The Problem: The fuel gauge may show there's more gas in the tank than there actually is. The Fix: Dealers will replace the fuel tank control unit and upgrade the software. If you own one: Bugatti hasn't yet told NHTSA when the recall will begin. The Basics: Bugatti will recall 13 examples of the 2006-2008 Veyron with manufacturing dates between October 3, 2006, to December 22, 2006. The Problem: The positive battery cable and the connection to the alternator can corrode. This could cause the cable to overheat. Accidents/Injuries: None reported. The Fix: Dealers will replace the positive battery cable and alternator. If you own one: Bugatti hasn't yet told NHTSA when the recall will begin. The Basics: Bugatti will recall 87 examples of the 2006-2010 Veyron from March 10, 2006, to March 9, 2012, the 2010-2012 Veyron Grand Sport from September 29, 2009, to October 14, 2014, and the 2011-2013 Veyron Super Sport from February 18, 2011, to August 17, 2012. The Problem: The aluminum plates under the vehicle, which support it during lifting, can corrode and potentially detach from the supercar. If this happens while the Veyron is on the road, the plates could become a hazard to other drivers. The Fix: Dealers will rivet and seal the underbody plates. If you own one: Bugatti hasn't yet told NHTSA when the recall will begin. RECALL Subject : Fuel Gauge may Read Higher than Actual Report Receipt Date: APR 08, 2016 NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V200000 Component(s): FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Potential Number of Units Affected: 72 All Products Associated with this Recall close Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) BUGATTI VEYRON 2006-2010 BUGATTI VEYRON GRAND SPORT 2010-2011 Details Manufacturer: Bugatti SUMMARY: Bugatti is recalling certain model year 2006-2010 Veyron vehicles manufactured October 3, 2006, to January 17, 2010 and 2010-2011 Veyron Grand Sport vehicles manufactured September 29, 2009, to June 30, 2010.

No expense spared: Bugatti explains how it 3D-prints exotic metal parts

Bugatti deputy design director Frank Heyl told Autoblog his team doesn't balk at using the most expensive materials available, and he meant it. The company described how it 3D-prints titanium and alloy parts to save weight. Look closely at the back end of the 304-mph Chiron Super Sport 300+ or the agile Chiron Pur Sport and you'll spot 3D-printed titanium components. They're the intricately-designed covers installed over the exhaust pipes; they stick out from the carbon fiber diffuser. Each part weighs four pounds, which makes it 2.6 pounds lighter than the one fitted to the standard Chiron. It's one of the weight-saving measures Bugatti took to create both cars. Manufacturing the part requires firing up four 400-watt lasers that stack 4,200 individual layers of metal powder on top of each other while fusing them. The part is extremely thin in places but remarkably solid thanks to what Bugatti refers to as a "bionic honeycomb" structure, and it's capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. That might sound like overkill, but keep in mind the cover is on the receiving end of a 1,500-horsepower, 16-cylinder engine. The exhaust system gets really hot, really quickly under heavy acceleration. Bugatti began using 3D printing in 2018, and now the Chiron Sport, the Divo, the one-off La Voiture Noire, and the Centodieci all use components made with 3D-printed metals. The part that covers the Sport's four visible exhaust tips (there are six in total) is notably manufactured using Inconel 718, a nickel-chrome alloy whose audial resemblance to a mid-engined model is purely coincidental; it's not a blend of molten Porsches. It's a material normally used in gas turbines, the blades attached to airplane engines, space ships, and even rocket engines. Making the cover takes several days. Engineers scan every part they produce with a computer tomograph to detect air bubbles that can get trapped between the layers during the printing process. If there are none, the part is blasted with a material named corundum, painted, and sent to the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim, France, where it's checked yet again before it's installed on the car. Few exhaust tips have such a fascinating story to tell. "The advantage of the 3D printing process lies in the geometric shapes that are possible," said Nils Weimann, Bugatti's head of body development.