Bugatti Veyron in big trouble over airbags
New U.S. airbag rules going into effect in September could be a disaster in the making for supercar maker Bugatti. Apparently complying with the new rules will require a redesign of the Veyron, increasing the price of the car more than $125,000.
In a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency, Bugatti president Thomas Bscher said the requirement for "smart" airbags "could well put Bugatti out of business," citing the domino effects of costly redesign of the current car, cuts in production and delay in the introduction of its next model.
A number of low volume automakers have applied for an exemption to the rule, including Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferrari, Spyker, Lotus and Morgan.
If the NHTSA grants Bugatti's requested two-year exemption, it will only affect the 150 cars it hopes to build for the U.S. market before introducing its next version, which presumably will include smart air bags. Lamborghini is similarly affected only for its current models - the next-gen Murcielago, due out in 2009, will comply with the new rules.
[Source Financial Times via MSNBC]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dr1v3r 3:50PM (8/16/2006)
Ah yes, the people in the governement strike again. Pencil-pushing, joy-killing, freedom-stealing Vulgons.
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Whydrive 3:51PM (8/16/2006)
Kinda brings back memories of Porsche debating whether to jump through hoops to import the 959 into the U.S. I think Porsche actually helped themselves when they decided not to as that only made the car much more tempting for US collectors.
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Hemanth Rao 4:02PM (8/16/2006)
According to Wall Street journal, Ferrari has gotten an exemption but doesn't state under what grounds. Wonder if this is 'managed'..
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Serge 4:04PM (8/16/2006)
Other factors being equal (speed, weight of colliding wehicles, etc) supercars are much safer than mainstream cars with or without smart airbags, just remember all those high speed Enzo crashes ;) Strenght of the safety cell clearly makes up for any deficiency on the airbag front. And anyone not using a seatbelt while driving a Veyron or an Enzo should probably be wiped out by natural selection anyway
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Will 4:14PM (8/16/2006)
If you wrecked a Bugatti, would you want to walk away from it?
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Howard Kerr 4:33PM (8/16/2006)
Not to "diss" Bugatti, and I know Ferraris often use the same tail lights...but doesn't the rear of this car remind you of a Chevy Cobalt?
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zack 4:38PM (8/16/2006)
Damn USA and their stupid rules. It has me hacking my brand new Audi just to block out the light that says the passenger airbag is off.
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Richard Warren 4:56PM (8/16/2006)
A lot of the rules are dumb, however one could beg to ask. When was it known the rules would change and why did they not make the change earlier?
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Corey W. 4:58PM (8/16/2006)
Nothing against these automakers but why should they get an exemption to the new regulation. Doesn't that nullify the point of the requirement in the first place. Everyone else would be made to redesign but because "they're very expensive supercars" they shouldn't have to.
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epp_b 5:08PM (8/16/2006)
Only politicians would believe that airbags will actually make a difference at an instantaneous stop from 253MPH. And only in America.
["Not to "diss" Bugatti, and I know Ferraris often use the same tail lights...but doesn't the rear of this car remind you of a Chevy Cobalt?"]
You have it the wrong way around.
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MikeUF 5:32PM (8/16/2006)
Well actually the Cobalt stole from the Corvette (which GM even admits) so whay should be said is did the Bugatti steal from the vette?
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Chris 5:58PM (8/16/2006)
Where the hell could you go 253 mph here in the U.S.? Most of these cars are going to the NYC or L.A. areas were a Focus is overpowerd for the driving conditions.
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David 6:04PM (8/16/2006)
epp_b,
It is of course possible for the Veyron to travel at less than 253 mph and have accidents at those lower speeds. I agree with Richard (#7); how long has the rule and it's implementation date been known? Or was VW Group too busy making an aluminum/composite 2 passenger car weigh 4000 pounds to notice the regulation.
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temple 6:21PM (8/16/2006)
>>Well actually the Cobalt stole from the Corvette (which GM even admits) so whay should be said is did the Bugatti steal from the vette?
The four circular tail lights are inheritly a Ferrari thing, they started showing up on Ferrari's in the 50s, however they were much smaller. The original C1, didn't even have four tail light, and it started in 1963 with the C2, however they were much smaller and less prominent then the ones today. The Corvette C3 in the are were the four rounded tail lights started to really become a prominent part of the design but that was more in the late-60s-80s.
If you want to nitpik the Nissan/Prince Skyline had the four rounded tail lights on early Skylines in the early-60s as well.
Having four round tail lights isn't really an original concept.
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Milos 6:28PM (8/16/2006)
I don't know what's all the fuss about airbags in Bugatti. If I somehow got the chance to own a Veyron and survive wreck in it, i would kill myself personally :)
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Galley 7:25PM (8/16/2006)
Remember when they killed the Tucker because it was TOO safe?
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Salman 8:10PM (8/16/2006)
oh that's gotta hurt! It's always nice when the change the rules on you isn't it? I guess that's life for big businesses.
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dm 5:08AM (8/17/2006)
Does the new US airbag rule by any chance affect Porsche's high speed car, Carerra GT?
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Hmmmm 5:29AM (8/17/2006)
THey did not make this law to screw over Ferarri, Bugatti or Lamborghini, they make laws liek this for the other 299 million people in the country with average cars that automakers get away with making barely safe. Think about those new chinese cars coming to the US and thank the government for getting auto safety right for once.
Not that id buy a chinese car in the first place.
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dm 5:46AM (8/17/2006)
Yha the govt.'s motive are fine. I appreciate yr point of view. What I was trying to understand is - whether does the new US airbag rule also affect Porsche's sales like it could possibly hit Bugattis' if Bugatti does not get an exemption?
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