Bugatti Americas COO prioritizes personal client relationships over AI

Key facts

• Bugatti Americas COO Sascha Doering emphasizes personal client relationships, including remembering children's birthdays.
• Bugatti produces a limited number of hypercars annually, making each customer highly important.
• The company is launching the Tourbillon, its first hybrid model, with no AI used in its design or production.
• Doering prefers manual creation of presentations over AI tools to ensure personal analysis and storytelling.
• Doering drives a luxury sedan and does not own a Bugatti.

Sascha Doering, the Chief Operating Officer of Bugatti Americas, employs a deeply personal strategy to engage with the company's ultra-high-net-worth clientele, prioritizing human connection over artificial intelligence.

Bugatti's business model relies on cultivating strong relationships, as the company produces only 80 to 100 cars globally each year, with approximately 40 making it to the U.S. Doering stated that maintaining these rare client relationships is paramount, as customers are as scarce as the vehicles themselves. He actively stays involved in clients' lives, even remembering their children's birthdays and occasionally arranging dinners when schedules align.

The company is gearing up to launch the Tourbillon, its first hybrid hypercar, which will feature a naturally aspirated 8.3-liter V16 engine combined with three electric motors to produce 1,800 horsepower. Production will be limited to 250 units, which are reportedly already accounted for. Doering noted that while Bugatti embraces new technology, it avoids compromising the tactile experience customers expect, describing the industry's increasing reliance on screens as potentially excessive.

Bugatti confirmed that AI was not utilized in the design, development, or production of the Tourbillon. Doering himself described his approach to work as "super old school," preferring to create his own presentations rather than using AI tools. He believes this manual process forces him to engage more deeply with the analysis and storytelling. This human-centric philosophy extends to his personal life; Doering drives a luxury sedan, an Audi A8 L, rather than a Bugatti.