Bugatti has named Stefan Ellrott as its new development boss. Ellrott was previously in charge of development at the Volkswagen brand. He starts his new role at Bugatti on January 1, 2017, replacing the retiring Willi Netuschil who has been Bugatti’s development boss since 2012.
Ellrott, 48, studied mechanical engineering before joining the development team at VW in 1996. He’s had various roles since then including leading VW’s R performance division responsible for cars like the Golf R.
“With Stefan Ellrott, we are welcoming to our ranks an experienced vehicle developer and engineer,” Bugatti CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer said in a statement. “We are very pleased to have secured his services for Bugatti and are looking forward to tackling our future projects together and shaping the future of our brand.”
The future projects referred to by Dürheimer are likely to include new versions of the Chiron, including the possibility of a more potent version packing hybrid technology. Bugatti is also known to be considering a second model line, with Dürheimer in July revealing that four options were on the table, one of them a sedan along the lines of Bugatti’s Galibier 16C concept unveiled in 2009.
In other news, fellow VW Group brand Audi has named Dieter Gass as its new motorsport boss. Gass, 53, replaces the retiring Wolfgang Ullrich. Gass is currently the boss of Audi’s DTM program. He moves into the head motorsport position at a time when Audi closes the chapter on its successful World Endurance Championship and Le Mans career and opens a new one in Formula E.
