After selling almost all 30 of its US$3.9 million special-edition Chiron Super Sport 300+ supercars over dinner this weekend, Bugatti is moving to double its lineup by adding a second model.Unlike the limited-run Chiron a version of the car that set a 304 miles-per-hour record earlier this month the new vehicle may take the shape of a four-seater, Bugatti President Stephan Winkelmann said in an interview.It could also leave the worlds racetracks for some off-road driving, he said, a departure for a brand honed on producing race cars going at incredible speeds.Bugatti, one of a stable of super-premium Volkswagen-owned brands including Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley, is looking at sexy financing for the new model, Winkelmann said. Porsche used a German promissory note called a Schuldschein to partially fund the development and production of the battery-powered Taycan.Demand for supercars remains unbroken, judging by a dinner held at Bugattis headquarters in Molsheim, France, over the weekend. Nearly all of the Chiron Super Sport 300+ models slated for production were sold, Winkelmann said.Even so, the focus at the Frankfurt auto show this week will be on electric vehicles like the Taycan and VWs coming ID.3. A battery version of the Chiron wouldnt work, he said hypercars still need combustion fire power. But he could see a less-expensive daily driver at a lower price, say in the US$1 million range, working in a hybrid-electric set-up.There is still a lot of time for internal combustion engines, the 54-year-old said. The Chiron Super Sport 300+ has some modifications and is 20 centimeters longer than the version that raced around a recently resurfaced Volkswagen track in Ehra-Lessien, Germany.Winkelmann briefly discussed the idea of uniting VWs luxury brands under one umbrella. He declined to be drawn on the prospects of Bugatti holding a public stock offering, saying its not his decision to make.If we put those type of brands together its unique in the automotive industry, Winkelmann
Origin: Bugatti’s record-breaking Chiron Super Sport could be yours for US$4 mil
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US$4 billion class-action leveled at Ford over Focus, Fiesta transmissions
The 2015 Ford Focus.Handout Ford is facing some serious legal drama as consumer fraud cases in the U.S. gather steam, reports the Detroit Free Press. Over 1.9 million people worldwide who purchased a Focus or Fiesta could take part in a class-action suit accusing Ford of lying to move the faulty vehicles, and then not taking ownership of the problem when it arose. The complaints center around the dual-clutch transmissions found in the 2012 through 2016 Focus and 2011 through 2016 Fiesta. Legal filings describe customers experiencing “shuddering, slipping, bucking, jerking, hesitation while changing gears, premature internal wear, delays in downshifting and, in some cases, sudden or delayed acceleration.” In April 2019, Ford’s lawyer Ryan Wu appealed to have the settlement amount lowered to US$35 million from US$4 billion. Judges are in the process of deciding whether to uphold the settlement. “If history is any indication, the situation facing Ford is grim, suggests the Free Press. A California jury awarded Ariel Myers of Los Angeles $550,000 after finding that Ford acted with malice and committed fraud by concealing that the transmission in his 2014 Ford Focus was seriously defective, inducing him to purchase the car, despite a history of massive numbers of transmission failures, according a news release after the April 6, 2018, verdict from the nonprofit Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety based in Sacramento.” Judges are expected to reach a conclusion on the by the end of the year.
Origin: US$4 billion class-action leveled at Ford over Focus, Fiesta transmissions