After 19 years with Bugatti, leading the design of some of the brand’s most famous vehicles and one-offs, Achim Anscheidt is retiring. He hands over the reins to the company’s Deputy Design Director, Frank Heyl, who has been with the company since 2008.
Anscheidt’s path to the role he is now leaving was anything but straightforward. Starting out his career in the motoring space as a motorcycle stunt rider, he then went to design school in California, before joining Porsche in 1993.
In 2004, he took a role at Bugatti, and although the Veyron had already been designed, he was responsible for many of the special edition models that followed it, such as the Veyron L’Or Blanc, the Veyron Edition Hermes, as well as the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse and Super Sport.
“When I first arrived at Bugatti, I was inspired to make the famous Bugatti patrons of the past proud – especially Ettore Bugatti and his son Jean,” he said. “I wanted to develop modern day Bugatti into a crowning jewel of brand perception and unique automotive excellence.”
Read: Bugatti Plans New Building, 50 Percent More Employees As It Prepares For Post-Chiron Future
Although he is now retiring, Anscheidt will continue to serve the company as an advisor. Yet another way that Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac is keeping the designer from kicking up his heels and relaxing, the incoming executive actually asked Anscheidt to delay his retirement in order to ensure a successful transition.
“Since engaging in my role at Bugatti a couple of years ago, it was obvious that Achim was a crucial component in establishing the next generation of Bugatti hyper sports cars,” Rimac said, “so I sincerely encouraged him in 2021 to remain with Bugatti for a further three years before retiring.”
In that time, Anscheidt was central in leading the design of the successor to the Chiron. Although it will not feature Bugatti’s legendary 8.0-liter W16 engine, he said that it will be a grand tourer, not a racecar for the road, like the cars that preceded it.
Anscheidt’s “last commitment to Bugatti was to finalize the design of our next-generation hyper sports car,” said Rimac. “Without saying too much, it’s Achim’s masterpiece and the most beautiful and authentic evolution of Bugatti I could have imagined. It’s an honor to have Achim continue to develop the brand as our advisor, and with the stunning work that Frank Heyl has already undertaken, the future of Bugatti design is in the very best of hands.”
Bugatti says that the new hybridized Chiron successor will be unveiled in 2024, and will go on sale in 2026. With that, his vision for the brand’s future will be in place until at least 2030.
“I will be forever grateful for having been a part of this incredible developing Bugatti journey,” said Anscheidt. “The best is still to come, and I’m truly thankful to all who supported the brand and our design department to help us evolve the brand to a place where I know Ettore and Jean would be proud.”
