Romano Artioli (born 5 December 1932, in Moglia) [1] is an Italian entrepreneur and one-time owner of Bugatti and Lotus automobile brands.
Artioli was born in Moglia in the Province of Mantua. He was raised in Bolzano where in the 1980s he operated one of the largest Ferrari dealerships in the world, selling in northern Italy and southern Germany. [2] He also imported Japanese cars, owning Autoexpò which in 1982 became the first Italian importer of Suzuki. [3]
He was encouraged by Ferruccio Lamborghini and Paolo Stanzani to establish Bugatti International, a holding company that bought the Bugatti trademark name in 1987 with Jan K Breitfeld as President of the holding. Artioli became chairman of Bugatti Automobili S.p.A., which made the Bugatti EB 110 between 1991 and 1995. In 1993, his wife Renata Kettmeir formed the Bolzano-based Ettore Bugatti luxury item maker, also using the Bugatti "EB" logo. Their involvement ended in September 1995 due to bankruptcy, [4] and the company was eventually bought by Volkswagen in April 1998. Prior to the sale to Volkswagen, private equity investor CVC attempted a purchase of Bugatti via UK corporate finance advisor Anglo American Ventures, however the £100m deal failed at due diligence stage.
Artioli purchased Lotus from General Motors in August 1993 and became its chairman until 1996 when he stepped down to be Special Projects director until 1998. He sold a majority stake to Proton in 1996 to fund his losses due to the insolvency of Bugatti.
His daughter Elena Artioli (born 1970) is a politician for the South Tyrolean People's Party and Lega Nord Alto Adige – Südtirol. [5] The Lotus Elise was named after Romano Artioli's granddaughter Elisa Artioli.
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and numerous race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car.
Volkswagen AG, known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, and since the late 2000s is a publicly traded family business owned by Porsche SE, which in turn is half-owned but fully controlled by the Austrian-German Porsche and Piëch family. The company also offers related services, including financing, leasing, and fleet management. In 2016, it was the world's largest automaker by sales, and keeping this title in 2017, 2018, and 2019, selling 10.9 million vehicles and was the largest automaker by revenue in 2022. It has maintained the largest market share in Europe for over two decades. It ranked seventh in the 2020 Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies. In 2023, Volkswagen Group was the largest company in the European Union and the largest car manufacturer in the world by revenue.
Fiat S.p.A., or Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, was an Italian holding company whose original and core activities were in the automotive industry, and that was succeeded by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA). The Fiat Group contained many brands such as Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, the Chrysler Group, and many more. On 29 January 2014, it was announced that Fiat S.p.A. was to be merged into a new Netherlands-based holding company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA), taking place before the end of 2014. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles became the new owner of Fiat Group. On 1 August 2014, Fiat S.p.A. received necessary shareholder approval to proceed with the merger. The merger became effective 12 October 2014.
Giorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002. He was awarded the Compasso d'Oro industrial design award six times.
The Bugatti EB 110 is a mid-engine sports car initially conceived by Ing. Paolo Stanzani in the mid 1980s and produced by Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. from 1991 until 1995, when the company was liquidated. The model restarted the brand's presence in the automobile industry after a hiatus of nearly 40 years.
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver Pierre Veyron.
The Bugatti EB 218 saloon is the second concept car presented by Bugatti under the ownership of the Volkswagen Auto Group. The EB 218 was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who also designed the EB 112, the car's predecessor and the EB 118, the car's 2-door variant. The EB 218 can be considered as an update of the EB 112, a concept saloon introduced by Bugatti Automobili SpA in 1993. The EB 218 features Volkswagen's unconventional W18 engine and permanent four-wheel drive borrowed from the Lamborghini Diablo VT.
Ferdinand Karl Piëch was an Austrian business magnate, engineer, and executive who held the positions of chairman of the executive board (Vorstandsvorsitzender) of the Volkswagen Group from 1993 to 2002, and chairman of the supervisory board (Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender) from 2002 to 2015.
B Engineering is a small-volume automobile manufacturer located in Italy. It is made up of several former employees of the Bugatti firm when it was under the leadership of Romano Artioli.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. is a French luxury sports car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and is based in Molsheim, Alsace, France. The company makes a variety of two-seater and track-only cars.
Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder is a German automobile engineer and manager.
Musée National de l’Automobile, Collection Schlumpf is an automobile museum located in Mulhouse, France, and built around the Schlumpf Collection of classic automobiles. It has the largest displayed collection of automobiles and contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of Bugatti motor vehicles in the world.
Mauro Forghieri was an Italian mechanical engineer, best known for his work as a Formula One racing car designer with Scuderia Ferrari during the 1960s and 1970s. He is credited with introducing the first designed rear wings to Formula One at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix. He oversaw numerous technical developments during his tenure at Ferrari, including the creation of the 250 GTO and P-series sports racing cars, the Ferrari flat-12 series of engines, Ferrari's first turbocharged engine in the 126 C F1 car, and a prototype semi-automatic transmission in 1979. During Forghieri's tenure with Ferrari, the company won the F1 World Driver's Championship four times and the F1 World Constructors' Championship seven times. After leaving Ferrari in 1987, he worked at Lamborghini and Bugatti then founded the Oral Engineering Group in 1995.
Hethel is a small village in the civil parish of Bracon Ash, in the South Norfolk district, in Norfolk, England, approximately five miles (8.0 km) southeast of the market town of Wymondham, and approximately ten miles (16 km) south of the city of Norwich. In 1931 the parish had a population of 118. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Bracon Ash.
D'Ieteren Group SA is a company, based in Belgium that is engaged in automobile distribution and vehicle glass repair and replacement (VGRR) and other industrial activities related to spare parts.
The automotive industry in Pakistan is one of fastest-growing industries in the country, growing by 171% between 2014 and 2018. It accounts for 7% of Pakistan's GDP and employed a workforce of over 6.8 million people as of 2024. Pakistan is the 15th largest producer of automobiles. Its contribution to the national exchequer is nearly US$5.4 billion. Pakistan's auto market is among the fastest growing in Asia. 384,000 cars were sold in 2023. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Pakistan had many Japanese cars. With the launch of the first Auto Policy in 2005, Pakistan launched its first indigenous car, Adam Revo. However, after the 2008 elections, the dollar started depreciating, and due to bad governance, many automakers began to halt production, with some exiting Pakistan. Currently, the auto market is dominated by Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki. However, on 19 March 2016, Pakistan passed a second "Auto Policy 2016-21," which offers tax incentives to new automakers to establish manufacturing plants in the country. In response, Renault, Nissan, Proton Holdings, Kia, SsangYong, Volkswagen, FAW, and Hyundai have expressed interest in entering the Pakistani market. MG JW Automobile Pakistan has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Morris Garages (MG) Motor UK Limited, owned by SAIC Motor, to bring electric vehicles to Pakistan. NLC signed an agreement with Mercedes-Benz to manufacture Mercedes Actros trucks in Pakistan. On 8 July 2021, Jolta Electric launched the production of electric motorcycles.
A retro-style automobile is a vehicle that is styled to appear like cars from previous decades. Often these cars use modern technology and production techniques. This design trend developed in the early 1990s and led to almost all automobile brands introducing models that referenced previous cars of the 1950s and 1960s.
The Bugatti EB 112 is a concept 4-door fastback saloon presented by Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. in 1993. Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign was responsible for designing the car. The EB 112 features a 456 PS V12 engine and permanent four-wheel drive system.
Paolo Stanzani was an Italian mechanical engineer and automotive designer.
The Milano Monza Open-Air Motor Show (MIMO) is an annual auto show first held in June 2021 in Milan and Monza, Italy.