The Latest on the Bugatti Galibier

Bugatti still has about 80 available order slots for its Veyron Gran Sport and Gran Sport Vitesse, and has more than that left to manufacture. As such, there remains about a year and a half's worth of work for the factory. After that? The Bugatti Galibier super sedan is next up, but as of right now it looks as though it's unlikely to be ready before the Veyron line stops.

When the Galibier was first shown as a concept to potential owners in fall 2009, many of them requested changes to the interior to make something more distinctive and luxurious. A year later, Wolfgang Duerheimer took over from Franz-Josef Paefgen as Bugatti president (and Bentley CEO), and insisted on major body and engineering changes.

Duerheimer has since departed to run Audi's R&D, leaving Bugatti and Bentley with yet another new boss, Wolfgang Schreiber. He was brought in when transmission issues delayed the Veyron's launch. Soon after, he was given responsibility for finishing development of the whole car. He was then moved to run VW's van division. Insiders predict he might call for further changes to the Galibier. As a result, the production car that finally emerges could be very different from the original concept.Being a sedan, the Galibier will likely outsell the Veyron, of which 450 will be made and 360 have been sold (253 Veyrons, 47 Super Sports, and 60 of 150 Grand Sport/Grand Sport Vitesse). It will also be fishing in a larger pool of potential buyers than the Veyron. To buy a 1000-hp-plus hyper sports car with a seven-figure price tag, you need to be very rich and to love fast cars. To buy a 1000-hp-plus hyper sedan with a seven-figure price tag (the Galibier will retail for at least four times the $265k-plus Bentley wants for a Mulsanne), you need only be very rich.Speaking of rich, there are no plans for a cheaper Bugatti model. Salespeople say it would anger existing customers who buy into the brand's exclusivity.