Size-wise, the Volkswagen Gol is positioned between the Polo and Golf
The latest information on the four door cousin of Bugatti Veyron, Galibier is that its launch has been delayed due to slow progress. Wolfgang Durheimer, Chairman of Bentley and Bugatti has moved on toAudi and his place is taken by Wolfgang Schreiber – former Bugatti technical chief and managing director. Schreiber has now announced that the Galibier super saloon will not be making its entry into markets anytime soon as progress is slow and needs of the customer are still being evaluated.
Galibier was seen in a concept form in 2009 following which the company announced that the vehicle was due to be launched in 2013 or 2014 while prices were expected to be in the $1.4 million range. However development is still underway and the four door will take its time to be launched though it will definitely make its way into markets in the future. The Galibier is said to be a W16 engined vehicle with two stage superchargers offering 1000 bhp power while it will be capable of acceleration from 0 to 100 kmph in 3.5 seconds.
In an interview with Autocar, Schreiber stated that, "The Veyron and its derivatives are very focused on the needs of the customers", he said. "If you switch to a different type of car, it is very necessary to evaluate the needs of the customer. The launch date is still not decided yet. We are still working on the Galibier project. but I would say it is more difficult to fulfill all the requirements for Bugatti customers than Bentley customers. The four-door is absolutely necessary. The hero car, the Veyron, is alone. I think customers would be very pleased if we had a second car, so I support it very much
Virtual Realities
Sophisticated computer-generated imagery has companies turning to virtual vehicles instead of physical prototypes for sales and marketing
A “virtual parking lot” of computer-generated wireframe models by Evox Images enables the creation of interactive imagery of any car sold in the United States.
Instead, it produced a movie with technology from Autodesk using a virtual car. The use of computer-generated images by the automotive sector is not new. But the technologies are becoming so sophisticated that car companies are relying more on virtual cars to substitute for physical prototypes in marketing, allowing them to cut significantly the time it takes to begin publicizing a vehicle. The technologies give potential customers a chance to touch and interact virtually with numerous versions of a vehicle before it's built.
It used to be that the virtual models weren't convincing, but "recent advances in CGI make it more photorealistic" so it's often impossible to tell the difference between a model and the real thing, said Joanne Stansberry, who has managed computer-generated imagery at Chevrolet.
Alexander Edwards, president of the automotive division of Strategic Vision, a consulting and research company in San Diego, said: "Every car company is looking at these types of technologies" and how they'll be used in the future.
"It really is going to be an inexpensive way to better understand consumer choices and start preliminary ad campaigns," he said.
