Volkswagen Group at the Auto China 2013

Signifying the huge importance of the Chinese market in the Volkswagen Group's mega plan to conquer the automotive world, the Germans organized a special event on the eve of the Auto China 2013 in Shanghai.

The automaker holds the same "Volkswagen Group Night" meeting before every important international motor show, with the most recent one being in Geneva, just last month.

In Shanghai, VW rolled out all of its world premieres ranging from the visually refreshed Skoda Superb and the all-new Audi A3 Sedan to the Volkswagen CrossBlue Coupe Concept, the Bugatti Veyron GS WRC (for World Record Car) and the Lamborghini Aventador LP 720-4 50o Anniversario.

As is customary in these type of glamorous events, there were select local and international stars, including American actor Keanu Reeves.

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Bugatti TypeZero Concept

French designer Marc Devauze looked at Bugatti's glorious past and chose the brand's most successful racecar ever, the 1920's Type 35 that won over 1,000 races including the Grand Prix World Championship as well as the famed Targa Florio, for inspiration in creating his award winning TypeZero Concept.

The TypeZero is a study for a single-seater, electric powered "hypercar". It was designed to feature four in-wheel electric motors fed by detachable Lithium-Air batteries located on either side of the driver.

Other highlights include the minimalistic interior that Devauze says is constructed "like an old race car with an enveloping bucket seat stretched through the car".

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Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse 1,200 HP

The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, which is the targa-top version of the series, was a little extra mph-ed as the standard model's 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged 16 cylinder engine with 1,001HP and 1,250 Nm (922 lb-ft) didn't quite make the cut for everyone…

The long-rumored open-top version of the now discontinued Veyron 16.4 Super Sports is named the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse and it will make its world premiere at the 82nd International Geneva Motor Show at the beginning of March.

The Vitesse features the same tweaked W16 engine with the four enlarged turbochargers and intercoolers found in the Super Sports model, and which delivers 1,200HP and 1,500Nm (1,106 lb-ft) of peak torque.

To support the increase in power, Bugatti's engineers have also made changes to the Grand Sport's chassis.

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Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

 Bugatti has presented another one-off edition of its Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, which is the open-top variant of the series, ahead of its world premiere at this week's 2012 Qatar Motor Show that runs from January 25 to 28.

The one-off Grand Sport has a horizontal color split with a bright yellow body encased in visible black carbon, including black-tinted wheels.

The same theme continues inside with the seats and the upper and lower sections of the door panels and dashboard finished in yellow-colored leather with black stitching. The center console comes in black carbon, while the middle sections of the dashboard, door panels, steering wheel and gearshift are made of black leather with yellow stitching.

This particular Grand Sport model carries a price of €1.58 million (about US$2.05 million) compared to the standard version that costs €1.4 million (~US$1.8 million), with both prices excluding taxes and delivery.

Bugatti says that production of the Grand Sport is limited to 150 units of which 45 have already been spoken for.

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