Roger Scoble blogs about the latest gadgets, travel and luxury…
Dubai is the single biggest market for Bugatti‘s hypercars so where better to build the marque’s biggest official dealership to date? Located on the Sheikh Zayed Road, the showroom is impossible to miss despite the exclusivity of the address or of neighboring structures, thanks to an architectural recreation of the marque’s famous horseshoe grille that serves as a 4m high arch over the plate glass doorway.
The showroom occupies over 240 square meters, a huge area for a dealership dealing in a single model. However, as the United Arab Emirates boasts more Bugatti owners per capita than any other region in the world, the space, created and managed by Al Habtoor Motors, needs to be something special.
“A location of this significance and appeal for our brand has earned a superlative showroom,” said Dr. Stefan Brungs, Bugatti’s global head of sales, marketing, and customer service. “Many Bugatti customers who have been the closest and most loyal ambassadors of our brand for many years live in this region.”
Indeed, Al Habtoor Motors is the world’s most successful official Bugatti dealer. It maintains 55 Bugatti Veyrons for their owners and is now in the process of honoring 30 local orders for its replacement, the 1500hp multi-million-dollar Chiron.
“The UAE is always striving to be the best. Our target was, therefore, to bring the largest, most beautiful Bugatti showroom to the heart of Dubai,” said Sultan Al Habtoor, President of Al Habtoor Motors.
The experience is meant to be akin to a private art viewing while ordering a bespoke suit. Clients are welcomed into a lounge furnished with unique Bugatti furniture where they work through every conceivable option and element of personalization they would like to see on their Chiron, before examining the car itself and taking in art and design drawn from Bugatti’s rich heritage.
Such attention to detail or to personalization may seem extreme, but the average Bugatti owner also has a fleet of other equally exotic and rare automobiles and every step must be taken to make the Chiron seem like a true object of desire. “Some of [our UAE clients] are proud owners of car collections with even several Bugatti super sports cars,” said Dr. Brungs, “The new showroom will not only be the perfect platform for the Chiron but also honours our special customers.”
The Chiron will be capped at exactly 500 examples. Bugatti has confirmed that over half have already been sold and that to date, 26% of all orders taken have been from clients living within the UAE.
Roger Scoble blogs about the latest gadgets, travel and luxury news. A graduate of UCLA, Roger loves to travel, drive luxe autos and have amazing adventures.