Is the Bugatti Chiron the best supercar ever? US$3 million says yes

Bugatti introduced its US$2.99 million Chiron supercar in Geneva last year, but it won’t be until next month that Volkswagen’s crown jewel brings the fastest car in the world to American shores.

And while half of the 500 total Chirons to be made are already spoken for, there are some still available. (According to Manuela Höhne, the head of communications for Bugatti, half of that 250 were bought sight-unseen. Think about that: US$2.99 million on a car you haven’t test driven or even laid eyes on in real life.)

“When those buyers finally came to Portugal to drive it, some said, ‘Oh wow, I want to have this car for my collection, but now I’ve driven it, I want another one,’” explained Höhne . “They want the second one to drive—one to keep in the collection, and one to drive.”

This is the difference between people who buy Bugattis and, say, those who acquire that other VW superstar, the half-million-dollar Lamborghini Aventador S . The average Bugatti customer has 42 cars at home, Höhne said. She declined to specify their average age.

There’s small chance the Bugatti buyer is as young as a Rolls’s buyer, who was recently revealed to be 45 years old, a stunningly low average for a luxury car brand—helped no doubt by the relative youth of buyers in China, where Rolls sells well.

Bugatti, on the other hand, sells 37 per cent of its wares in Europe, followed by 30 per cent in the U.S. and 26 per cent in the Middle East. As for Asia, buyers in Japan are more enamored with the French company’s craftsmanship and power than they are in China.

“Bugatti does have Chinese buyers—but they purchase the cars for their homes in Europe and the Middle East,” Höhne said.

Half the current owner list, she added, are new to the brand altogether. Apparently in previous years, many potential consumers of means had found the bulbous Veyron—the Chiron’s predecessor—too bulky for their liking. Bugatti designed this new car with an appeal for newcomers in mind.