Automotive Design & Production is the one media brand invested in delivering your message in print, online, via email, and in-person to the right automotive industry professionals at the right time.
Issue link: https://adp.epubxp.com/i/848620
Bugatti is building just 500 of them in its facility in Molsheim, France. The 1,500-hp study in carbon-fiber artistry. It has a base price of €2.4-million. While seeing one at an international auto show is certainly a possi- bility, a plant tour where the Chiron is being produced is probably far less likely (unless you happen to be one of the few buying a vehicle: they'll even throw in the opportunity to spend a day helping build it). So here is a look at several of the operations that go into producing this vehicle in what the company calls the "Atelier," an oval-shaped production building that was opened in 2005 and that has a floor space of more than 1,000-m 2 (10,764-ft 2 ). It is where the company had been producing the Veyron. There are 12 stations required for production. There are some 1,800 parts assembled during a two-month process. (Yes, two months.) Twenty people are directly involved in the build. There are 17 logistics people and 15 quality assurance people supporting them. The build sequence starts with the preparation of the powertrain. The engine is preassembled at the Volkswagen Group plant in Salzgitter, Germany (Bugatti is part of the Group). Then the engine and the seven-speed dual clutch transmission are installed on the chassis (which has a mass of 628 kg, or 1,384 lb.). There are two chassis-build platforms, each manned by three employ- ees who spend about a week working on the vehicle. The rear end of the vehicle is built around the power- train. The monocoque and the front end are joined, wired (with harnesses) and plumbed (the radiators are at the front and the engine is at the rear and there are three water pumps, so there is plenty of tubing involved). The monocoque and the rear end are then assembled; the connection is made with 14 titanium bolts, each of which weighs a mere 34 grams. (Speaking of fasteners: the only electronic tool used in chassis assembly is an electric nutrunner that tightens the bolts to a specified torque. There are more than 1,800 bolted joints needed to assemble a Chiron.) Here is the only type of automated tool used in assembly: a nutrunner. Twenty people are directly involved in the build. There are 17 logistics people and 15 quality assurance people supporting them. 42 BUGATTI