Extremely powerful and very exclusive. Bugatti hyper sports cars have always been at the very pinnacle of automobile construction. They are unique pieces of the highest quality and craftsmanship, developed and manufactured with enormous attention to detail. .
Since April 2019 Kostas Psarris has been at the head of the regional Bugatti representation. In his role he leads and oversees the operations of the Bugatti partners in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and works on the long-term strategy, always exploring new opportunities for Bugatti. The global lockdown due to COVID-19 came in waves for Psarris and his team. “With East Asia being in the center of this health crisis in the early stages, our Asian dealerships had to react very quickly. Here in Dubai, however, we only had to go into confinement three weeks ago, so we had enough time to prepare for it”, explains the 38-year-old Greek. When the local government implied social distancing in March, Psarris and his team had to find an alternative for the long planned Middle East premiere of the Chiron Pur Sport1. The actual world premiere of the latest member of the Chiron family also did not take place as planned, following the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, and was held in private one-to-one viewings with individual customers. “Since many of our customers were very keen on seeing the hyper sports car in the flesh, though, we managed to organise individual presentations of the car in our showroom in Dubai – with great success.”
The current situation is unlike anything Kostas Psarris has experienced in his twelve years within the automotive industry, leading him from Athens to Manchester and for the last six years to Dubai. The lack of a physical presence in the office isn’t what’s new for Psarris and his team, being used to travelling through a region that extends from Japan all the way to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and even to Bugatti’s headquarters in France. “9,514 kilometers and 5 time zones equal long working hours for us, and more often than not we have to work remotely. And not from the comfort of our own home, but in the offices of Bugatti partners on our travels, or airport lounges and hotel rooms.” What Psarris is missing in home office, is the personal contact with his business partners and especially with the customers: “We consider ourselves lucky to have some of the most loyal Bugatti customers, real car enthusiasts, in our region. We enjoy meeting them, listening to their needs and ideas, showing them what we’ve been working on. Nothing replaces this face-to-face interaction, but of course we try our best to work around it with digital solutions.” This way, his team managed to close some sales despite the unusual circumstances. Among them, the last available ‘Edition Noire’, a 20-unit special edition of the Chiron Sport2 that is now sold out.
Like the Bugatti Divo1, undoubtedly one of the world’s most extraordinary hyper sports cars. This coupé, which is limited to a series of just 40 cars, is now reviving the long coachbuilding tradition of this French luxury manufacturer. After two years of development work, the first of these cars costing at least EUR 5 million will soon be delivered to expectant Bugatti enthusiasts.
“Every Divo is absolutely unique, the ultimate form of luxury. This limited and extremely high-performance hyper sports car has an exclusive character all of its own,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti. “The Divo offers exceptional lateral acceleration as well as agility, and it is a must-have for any Bugatti enthusiast’s hyper sports car collection.” Besides reduced weight, progressive design and sophisticated aerodynamics, the Divo is characterized by the ideas of its future owners.
More than two-thirds of Divo purchasers decide to customize their cars, choosing their own colors and materials such as paint, leather, fabrics and stitching. They introduce their own design ideas and use them to create their very own personal cars. “This makes every Divo one of a kind,” says Laure Beneteau, Sales and Operations Manager at Bugatti. The 37-year-old Frenchwoman has been working for Bugatti since 2006 and since then she has supported over 400 Veyron and 300 Chiron2 customers during configuration and she has also been supporting Divo customers since 2018. “We accompany them as they choose their cars. But that is not all we do. They can dream with us. Almost every wish that makes a Bugatti unique? We can make it come true,” explains Laure Beneteau. So, in theory, the choice of colors is unlimited. Three staff members handle the wishes of Bugatti customers from all over the world and explain what is technically feasible, and the entire customization team is made up of 15 staff. “We have developed close relationships with many customers over the years. They trust us and value our opinions,” says Laure Beneteau with more than a hint of pride.
The Molsheim Experience
During the Molsheim Experience, where Bugatti customers can learn about the history of the marque, the historic Château, the North Remise and South Remise and the modern Atelier, Laure Beneteau or one of her colleagues accompany Bugatti enthusiasts as they configure their cars. A designer and a technician also assist in this process, explaining the technical details of the vehicle. The process takes almost five hours to complete. There are many ways to customize a Bugatti. “Some customers might know exactly what they want. But we also have customers whom we advise in detail, we work together with them and come up with suggestions,” explains Anne Beynat, Sales Coordinator at Bugatti since 2011. “Customers often have their own ideas, such as family crests, national flags, their own logos or special color schemes. We then try to implement the ideas in technical terms. Some customers choose the leather and color to match their handbag or their favorite pair of shoes,” says the 32-year-old. Their wishes must not impair vehicle safety or change the Bugatti logo. Anne Beynat often makes a selection of configurations which she then presents to customers and discusses with them. “Most of them already own a Bugatti, so we know their preferences. Our Divo customers all already drive at least one Chiron,” she explains. Together they select the type and color of leather to use, run through possible options and decide on the perfect color for the paintwork. Most customers want something very special.
The sky is the limit for design ideas
In addition to the body color, the centerline, roof, engine covers and the air intakes on the wings can also be painted in contrasting colors. Not just well-known types of cowhide are used. Other types of leather, or even vintage leather can be used to cover seats and side trim. The leather types usually differ in terms of thickness and perforation. It is even possible to match the paintwork to the leather.
Special features include embossed children’s footprints in the rear panel of the Veyron, the first name of the partner embroidered in the door pockets, or crystals in the cockpit. Special grilles or logos in the wheels or an inverted paint scheme are also possible. “Besides the technical challenge, time always has a part to play. It can take up to four months to develop a new color, nine months for a new leather and up to a year for a new carbon interior. “With our custom products, we make the same high demands in terms of materials and workmanship as with the standard configuration. After all, we want our Divo and Chiron cars to look and drive perfectly even after many, many years,” explains Laure Beneteau. Customers receive up-to-date photos every two weeks while their cars are being developed.
Tastes differ in that regard. While customers from the Asian market tend to request more unusual colors such as transposed paint schemes or bright colors, the European market tends to choose more reserved tones. Customers from the USA or the Middle East, on the other hand, like to order more eye-catching and extravagant color combinations. One customer worked with the Bugatti team for more than a year on the customization of his Divo. They have created a completely new vehicle as a result of a number of worldwide meetings and lots of samples and discussions. Now this Bugatti enthusiast can hardly wait to receive his very personalized Divo. No exceptions: even though Bugatti customers own almost everything, the handover is usually a very emotional moment. This is how unique the experience is – and how unique their very own Bugatti Divo is.
1 Fuel consumption, l/100km: not subject to Directive 1999/94/EC as overall type approval is currently not yet available
2 Fuel consumption, l/100km: urban 35.2 / extra-urban 15.2 / combined 22.5; combined CO2 emissions, g/km: 516; efficiency class: G
WLTP: Fuel consumption, l/100km: low 43.3 / medium 22.2 / high 18.0 / particularly high 18.3 / combined 22.3; CO2 emissions, combined, g / km: 506; efficiency class: G
Like the Bugatti Divo1, undoubtedly one of the world’s most extraordinary hyper sports cars. This coupé, which is limited to a series of just 40 cars, is now reviving the long coachbuilding tradition of this French luxury manufacturer. After two years of development work, the first of these cars costing at least EUR 5 million will soon be delivered to expectant Bugatti enthusiasts.
“Every Divo is absolutely unique, the ultimate form of luxury. This limited and extremely high-performance hyper sports car has an exclusive character all of its own,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti. “The Divo offers exceptional lateral acceleration as well as agility, and it is a must-have for any Bugatti enthusiast’s hyper sports car collection.” Besides reduced weight, progressive design and sophisticated aerodynamics, the Divo is characterized by the ideas of its future owners.
More than two-thirds of Divo purchasers decide to customize their cars, choosing their own colors and materials such as paint, leather, fabrics and stitching. They introduce their own design ideas and use them to create their very own personal cars. “This makes every Divo one of a kind,” says Laure Beneteau, Sales and Operations Manager at Bugatti. The 37-year-old Frenchwoman has been working for Bugatti since 2006 and since then she has supported over 400 Veyron and 300 Chiron2 customers during configuration and she has also been supporting Divo customers since 2018. “We accompany them as they choose their cars. But that is not all we do. They can dream with us. Almost every wish that makes a Bugatti unique? We can make it come true,” explains Laure Beneteau. So, in theory, the choice of colors is unlimited. Three staff members handle the wishes of Bugatti customers from all over the world and explain what is technically feasible, and the entire customization team is made up of 15 staff. “We have developed close relationships with many customers over the years. They trust us and value our opinions,” says Laure Beneteau with more than a hint of pride.
The Molsheim Experience
During the Molsheim Experience, where Bugatti customers can learn about the history of the marque, the historic Château, the North Remise and South Remise and the modern Atelier, Laure Beneteau or one of her colleagues accompany Bugatti enthusiasts as they configure their cars. A designer and a technician also assist in this process, explaining the technical details of the vehicle. The process takes almost five hours to complete. There are many ways to customize a Bugatti. “Some customers might know exactly what they want. But we also have customers whom we advise in detail, we work together with them and come up with suggestions,” explains Anne Beynat, Sales Coordinator at Bugatti since 2011. “Customers often have their own ideas, such as family crests, national flags, their own logos or special color schemes. We then try to implement the ideas in technical terms. Some customers choose the leather and color to match their handbag or their favorite pair of shoes,” says the 32-year-old. Their wishes must not impair vehicle safety or change the Bugatti logo. Anne Beynat often makes a selection of configurations which she then presents to customers and discusses with them. “Most of them already own a Bugatti, so we know their preferences. Our Divo customers all already drive at least one Chiron,” she explains. Together they select the type and color of leather to use, run through possible options and decide on the perfect color for the paintwork. Most customers want something very special.
The sky is the limit for design ideas
In addition to the body color, the centerline, roof, engine covers and the air intakes on the wings can also be painted in contrasting colors. Not just well-known types of cowhide are used. Other types of leather, or even vintage leather can be used to cover seats and side trim. The leather types usually differ in terms of thickness and perforation. It is even possible to match the paintwork to the leather.
Special features include embossed children’s footprints in the rear panel of the Veyron, the first name of the partner embroidered in the door pockets, or crystals in the cockpit. Special grilles or logos in the wheels or an inverted paint scheme are also possible. “Besides the technical challenge, time always has a part to play. It can take up to four months to develop a new color, nine months for a new leather and up to a year for a new carbon interior. “With our custom products, we make the same high demands in terms of materials and workmanship as with the standard configuration. After all, we want our Divo and Chiron cars to look and drive perfectly even after many, many years,” explains Laure Beneteau. Customers receive up-to-date photos every two weeks while their cars are being developed.
Tastes differ in that regard. While customers from the Asian market tend to request more unusual colors such as transposed paint schemes or bright colors, the European market tends to choose more reserved tones. Customers from the USA or the Middle East, on the other hand, like to order more eye-catching and extravagant color combinations. One customer worked with the Bugatti team for more than a year on the customization of his Divo. They have created a completely new vehicle as a result of a number of worldwide meetings and lots of samples and discussions. Now this Bugatti enthusiast can hardly wait to receive his very personalized Divo. No exceptions: even though Bugatti customers own almost everything, the handover is usually a very emotional moment. This is how unique the experience is – and how unique their very own Bugatti Divo is.
1 Fuel consumption, l/100km: not subject to Directive 1999/94/EC as overall type approval is currently not yet available
2 Fuel consumption, l/100km: urban 35.2 / extra-urban 15.2 / combined 22.5; combined CO2 emissions, g/km: 516; efficiency class: G
WLTP: Fuel consumption, l/100km: low 43.3 / medium 22.2 / high 18.0 / particularly high 18.3 / combined 22.3; CO2 emissions, combined, g / km: 506; efficiency class: G