How Volkswagen Ex-Chairman Ferdinand Piëch and the legendary Bugatti Veyron changed the automotive industry.
To celebrate his birthday, Bugatti highlighted how his ambition created one of the most audacious automotive projects in history.

French automaker, Bugatti, is celebrating the posthumous birthday of Ferdinand Karl Piëch, the then Chairman of the Volkswagen Group, who was the driving force behind one of the most audacious automotive projects in history : the legendary Bugatti Veyron 16.4.
Born in Vienna on April 17th 1937, Ferdinand Karl Piëch, an Austrian business magnate and a grandson of the founder of the Porsche AG, Ferdinand Porsche, studied mechanical engineering in Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich.

Piëch began his career at Porsche, where he played a pivotal role in the creation of the legendary Porsche 917. At Audi, his engineering brilliance helped to create innovations like the five-cylinder engine, TDI technology, and the quattro all-wheel-drive system.
By 1993, he was appointed as the CEO of Volkswagen AG, a position he held till 2002. Under Piëch’s leadership, Volkswagen consolidated premium car brands such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche under the VW Group umbrella.

The World’s First Hypercar


Piëch’s envisioned a car that could produce 1,000 PS and exceed speeds of 400 km/h (248 mph) all started in 1997, while travelling on the “Shinkansen” bullet-train between Tokyo and Nagoya in Japan.
While still onboard the “Shinkansen” bullet-train, he sketched an engine with 18 cylinders on an envelope — an engine that not only evolved into the legendary Bugatti W16 but later powered the Veyron to a topspeed.

When Piëch was searching for an car brand that could realize his bold vision, he considered Bentley and Rolls-Royce, but he would later opt for Bugatti after his son Gregor insisted on buying a model of a Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic while on vacation in 1998.
On May 5, 1998, Volkswagen AG secured the rights to the Bugatti brand. These was followed with the unveiling of Concepts, including EB118 GT and the EB18/3 ‘Chiron’ and in 2005, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 was unveiled to the world and set new standards in performance, speed and luxury.

With a top speed of 407 km/h (252.9 mph) and acceleration from 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, the Bugatti Chiron was the fastest production vehicle in the world – and underscored Bugatti’s dedication to technological excellence.
“Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch was a visionary who refused to accept limitations. His ambition was not just to create a fast, high-performance vehicle, but to redefine what was possible in automotive engineering,” said Christophe Piochon, President of Bugatti.

“The Bugatti Veyron was his ultimate statement – a car that set entirely new benchmarks for speed, power, and luxury. On what would have been his birthday, we honor the legacy he left behind.”
“Two decades later, the Veyron’s legacy remains incomparable, inspiring every Bugatti innovation that followed and cementing its place as one of the most significant automotive achievements in history.”