2011 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 8.0l "bleu Nuit" Grand Sport 315 Miles, One Owner on 2040-cars

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One-of-a-kind Bugatti Chiron Profilee sells for over $10 million at auction

The one and only Bugatti Chiron Profilee has become the most expensive new car ever sold at an auction. RM Sotheby's sold it in Paris for precisely ˆ9,792,500 including the buyer's premium, a sum that represents approximately $10.8 million at the current conversion rate. For context, the Profilee makes the standard Chiron (which is sold-out) look like a bargain. Bugatti charged about $3 million for it, meaning the anonymous collector who took home the one-off car could have bought three regular Chiron models instead. With that said, we're not 100% surprised by the result: in addition to being a unique car, the Profilee stands out as the last W16-powered car available from Bugatti. Bugatti didn't envision the Profilee as a one-off; far from it. The model was developed with limited production in mind as a toned-down version of the Pur Sport that puts a bigger focus on touring than on handling. Changes such as wider front air dams, a bigger grille, and a small rear wing with a hollow middle section change the coupe's aerodynamic profile, and Bugatti also tweaked the steering and suspension systems. Shorter ratios in the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission make the Profilee the quickest evolution of the Chiron. Production should have been capped at 30 units globally, but Bugatti canned the project after it filled all of the available Chiron build slots. There's no word on who bought the Chiron Profilee or where it's off to, so keep your eyes peeled at the next cars and coffee gathering. Related video:

Original Bugatti Veyron concept to be displayed for first time since 1999

With all of the special editions and differing variants of the Bugatti Veyron being produced year after year, perhaps now is a good time to reflect back on the machine that started it all. Bugatti has announced that it will put the original EB 18/4 Veyron design study on display at the Salon Rétromobile in Paris. This is the first time the concept car will be publicly shown since it debuted at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show.
Taking a new look at the images of Bugatti's seminal Veyron in concept form reminds us how closely the boutique automaker followed its initial design when crafting the 1,001-horsepower production model in 2005. Have a look for yourself in the high-res image gallery above, and feel free to compare that car's sensuous curves with the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, an updated topless model with 1,200 horsepower and a 255-mile-per-hour top speed.

The Volkswagen Group switches official language to English

The Volkswagen Group can't be fairly thought of as entirely German anymore, so the news that the company is switching its official language to English to help attract managers and executives is a rational, if surprising, decision. While many VW Group companies are still staidly German in character and culture, consider the other companies that it controls: Bentley (British), Bugatti (French), Ducati and Lamborghini (Italian), Skoda (Czech), Scania trucks (Swedish), and SEAT (Spanish). Not to mention the large Volkswagen Group of America operation, which constructs cars in Chattanooga, TN. Volkswagen's explicit motivation is to improve management recruitment – making sure the company isn't losing out on candidates for important positions because they can't speak German – and that's inherently sensible in a globalized economy. Particularly considering, like it or lump it, that English is the lingua franca of said global economy. It also should make it inherently easier to communicate between its world-wide subsidiaries and coordinate operations. It's hard to say for sure if this will have any impact on the consumer, although it's easy to see the benefits if, say, VW Group hires some American product planners or engineers and they push for features and designs that more closely suit American needs. After all, the US is a hugely important market for any manufacturer, and so the switch to English almost certainly has something to do with the outsized influence of the US in the global economy. And there doesn't seem to be a downside from a purely rational perspective, although it could mean that the Group's corporate culture becomes less German. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your perspective. Related Video: Image Credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Audi Bentley Bugatti Porsche Volkswagen SEAT Skoda