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Volkswagen building budget car family planned for China in 2018

Volkswagen has publicly pondered a low-cost car for China, something akin to Nissan's Datsun revival in Southeast Asia, for at least three years. In 2013 it tapped Chinese partner FAW to help develop an entire budget brand, with plans to have something on the market in 2016 in the 6,000- to 8,000-euro range. About a year ago, VW said it couldn't figure out how to engineer an inexpensive car that didn't run counter to the brand's values, then three weeks later said it had overcome the issues. Reuters now reports that VW CEO Martin Winterkorn told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, "We will bring a budget-car family to market in 2018, with an SUV, saloon and hatchback." Winterkorn didn't offer any other details like who VW would work with to build it - VW has partnerships with both FAW and SAIC, but the announcement will be welcomed by the brand's Chinese outpost. When this adventure started, VW said it was working to create a model that would cost 6,000 to 8,000 euro. That estimate has increased. Winterkorn is now saying the 2018 offerings will come in between 8,000 and 11,000 euro. In a straight euro-to-yuan conversion, that would equate to Chinese pricing of 56,000 to 77,000 yuan. For comparison, the New Polo with a 1.4-liter engine and a manual transmission starts at 85,900 yuan. Perhaps with an eye on the success of the Nissan-Renault sub-brand Dacia in Europe and emerging markets, Winterkorn told Bild, "We will see if this is something of interest for other markets as well." On the opposite end of the price/performance spectrum, Winterkorn also said that VW is working on two new models for Bugatti, one powered by a traditional gasoline engine and another with some sort of hybrid setup. The latter model would reportedly be the higher-performing of the two, though it's not clear whether there would be two vehicle lines or two versions of the same vehicle. As ever, as soon as we know more, so will you.

Bugatti hints at upcoming Vision Gran Turismo design

This is a NACA duct. You used to see them on supercars left, right, and center – including the Bugatti EB110. You don't see them as much as you used to, but if this teaser is anything to go by, they could be making a comeback to the blanks and surfaces of the next Bugatti hypercar. Strictly speaking, the component rendering previews Bugatti's upcoming Vision Gran Turismo design – taking the Alsatian marque into the virtual world to let its fans drive a Bugatti on PlayStation. Which is all well and fine, of course, and we're looking forward to seeing it unveiled at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. But the bigger development is that the Vision Gran Turismo concept is set to preview the brand's new design language that will be embodied in the metal of the upcoming replacement for the Veyron. Expected to be called the Chiron, the new Bugatti supercar promises to surpass even its illustrious predecessor. Look for a revised version of the Veyron's mammoth 6.0-liter W16 engine to adopt some manner of electrical assist – likely in the form of electric turbochargers – to produce even more power while returning better fuel economy. Of course the solitary image of the NACA duct released together with the announcement isn't much to go on. But we're looking forward to seeing what the Volkswagen Group's most illustrious brand has cooked up for the Frankfurt show – and the video game console – next month. Related Video: "This is for our fans" – Bugatti creates its first vehicle for "Vision Gran Turismo" - Virtual concept car coming exclusively to PlayStation's Gran Turismo video game series - President Wolfgang Durheimer: "This will make Bugatti accessible for our countless fans throughout the world." - "Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo" gives an outlook of the brand's new design language - Bugatti to showcase virtual project at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) Molsheim, August 19, 2015. Following the sale of the 450th and final Veyron this spring, Bugatti is embarking on a new chapter in its corporate history which is to reach its climax with the presentation of the next Bugatti super sports car. The first stage in the process will be a virtual project developed by the luxury super sports car brand in cooperation with Polyphony Digital Inc., creators of the Gran Turismo video game franchise. For the first time, Bugatti will be represented in the "Vision Gran Turismo" category.

Bugatti EB 110-based SP-110 Edonis is back from the dead

When Bugatti went belly up in the mid 1990s, a group of former employees founded B Engineering. At the time, Bugatti was building the EB 110, a supercar whose performance and power ratings would shame most cars on the road today. Just 139 EB 110s were built between 1991 and 1995, but now the car has made a return. Sort of. Casil Motors has announced a 15-model run of the SP-110 Edonis Fenice, a EB 110-based supercar with sleepy-eyed styling and an updated powertrain. The history of the car is a bit convoluted. In the late 1980s, Bugatti was purchased by Romano Artioli. By 1991, the company was back to producing cars with the EB 110. It was a monster that was about as far ahead of its contemporaries as the Bugatti Chiron is today. The EB 110 packed a 550 horsepower quad-turbo 3.5-liter V12. It sent power to all four wheels through a six-speed manual transmission and hit 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds on the way to a top speed of 216 mph. Few cars short of the McLaren F1 could touch it. The car wasn't enough to prevent Bugatti from filing for bankruptcy by 1995. Volkswagen purchased it in 1998. Artioli and a group of former engineers eventually founded B Engineering. They purchased the remaining EB 110 components and revealed the EB 110-based Edonis on Jan. 1, 2000. It ditched the all-wheel drive and increased the power, but further details on changes are vague. The car never made it to production. Recently, Las Vegas-based Casil Motors stepped in to finish what B Engineering started. The car you see here is called the SP-110 Edonis Fenice. Underneath the aluminum bodywork you'll find the carbon-fiber monocoque from an EB 110. The engine is a 3.8-liter version of the EB 110's V12. It has been cranked to 720 horsepower, and the quad-turbo setup was ditched for two large-displacement turbos. Casil Motors says the car can hit 60 mph in 3.4 seconds (slower possibly because of the rear-drive setup), 100 mph in 8.2 seconds and has a top speed of more than 220 mph. It still uses a six-speed manual transmission. Casil Motors is offering a range of options, from a stripped-down track version to a kitted-out luxury model. The optional Rinascita Aero Package fixes some of the car's questionable styling choices. Only 15 will be built. Pricing hasn't been announced, but Casil Motors is requiring a $2,500 deposit. Don't expect this to be cheap. A clean EB 110 GT is going up for auction in March for nearly $1 million.