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Bugatti Veyron, the sequel

Bugatti's next model will be a million-dollar sedan. Having relaunched the brand with the Veyron, a car that'll never make money, Bugatti's plan is to defray the immense cost of developing the W-16 engine, seven-speed DSG transmission, and all-wheel-drive system by reusing them in a front-engine platform.

Bugatti chairman Thomas Bscher says the new car will use a structure of mixed materials – aluminum and carbon composites. The Veyron has steel end frames, a carbon tub, and part-aluminum skin. Once Bugatti designs a new platform, it can spawn sedan, coupe, and convertible bodies. The aerodynamics will be much easier to arrange because top speed will be limited. The turbos will be smaller for better engine response, reducing horsepower to about 950.

By maintaining its price and performance points well above the level of Rolls-Royce, Maybach and Bentley, it's possible to find a market, Bscher insists.

Rapide is go

Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez says the Rapide four-door Detroit show concept is going to reach production. Using a stretched-aluminum DB9 platform and the same 500-plus-horsepower-plus V-12, the Rapide will continue Bez's personal mission to upset his ex-employer, Porsche, where he was chief engineer. The Rapide will go head to head with the Porsche Panamera. Intro date is likely to be 2008, because first the tiny company has to get James Bond's DBS and the V8 Vantage convertible into production. The DBS and Rapide will cost $200,000 to $250,000 and will probably edge the Vanquish out of the model range, though the Vanquish gets a minor interior face-lift first.

An Alfa concept

Alfa Romeo will build a 500-unit run of the beautiful 8C Competizione show car and use it to spearhead the marque's reentry to the U.S. in 2008. Its engine is based on Maserati's 4.2-litre V-8, but uses Alfa-designed cylinder heads and an increase in capacity to 4.7 litres. It drives 20-inch rear wheels through a six-speed rear-mounted gearbox. The bodywork is mostly carbon fibre. The two-seat coupe was first exhibited as a concept at the Frankfurt International Auto Show in 2003. It was designed by Wolfgang Egger, chief of Alfa's in-house studios and recalls the era of coachbuilt track-biased Alfas. "We remembered the 2000 Sportiva, the 33 Stradale, and the TZ," says Egger.

CTS Coupe

The car is expected in the 2010 model year, concurrent with a minor facelift of the new CTS sedan. Coupes are typically fashion cars, with sales falling with a thud after the first model year. But BMW 3 Series coupes and the Mercedes CLK tend to buck that trend. Of course, a convertible version will be easy, and a Z06-powered CTS-v coupe could be an M3-killer. Cadillac thinks it has a winner on its hands with the new CTS and wants to expand the CTS franchise with coupe and wagon variants. The strategy is similar to that employed by Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which all build coupe and wagon variants of their entry-level sedans. This will make the CTS appealing to a broader range of buyers.