If your forebears created iconic cars like the original Beetle and the world’s first Porsche, what would you do for an encore? Build a vulgar racer from the ashes of a dead brand, of course.
That is what former Volkswagen Group chief Ferdinand Piech – grandson of Ferdinand Porsche – did in 2003. After acquiring the hallowed (and dormant) name of Bugatti, an Italian luxury brand of the 1930s, he set out to create the world’s most powerful supercar.
The Bugatti Veyron packed 1001 horses and was said to be capable of exceeding 400km/h. If registered in Singapore, it would cost $5 million or more, excluding an insurance premium of around $200,000 a year. Its 8-litre 16-cylinder engine will attract an annual road tax of $13,000. And at full whack, it will vaporise a litre of fuel per kilometre.
In short, it was a car that fired the imagination. But did anybody actually want to own one? Certainly. But were there enough of these to sustain the business plan? Certainly not. No sales figure had been declared, but it will be safe to assume no more than a couple of dozen have found owners.
Quite simply, the Veyron had been an ego trip, and one that cost Volkswagen plenty. 
