Romano Artioli (born 5 December 1932, inMoglia)[1] is an Italian entrepreneur and one-time owner ofBugatti andLotus automobile brands.
Artioli was born inMoglia in theProvince of Mantua. He was raised inBolzano where in the 1980s he operated one of the largestFerrari dealerships in the world, selling in northern Italy and southern Germany.[2]He also imported Japanese cars, owningAutoexpò which in 1982 became the first Italian importer ofSuzuki.[3]
He was encouraged byFerruccio Lamborghini and Paolo Stanzani to establishBugatti International, a holding company that bought the Bugatti trademark name in 1987 with Jan K Breitfeld as President of the holding.Artioli became chairman ofBugatti Automobili S.p.A., which made theBugatti EB 110 between 1991 and 1995.In 1993, his wife Renata Kettmeir formed theBolzano-basedEttore Bugatti luxury item maker, also using the Bugatti "EB" logo. Their involvement ended in September 1995 due tobankruptcy,[4] and the company was eventually bought byVolkswagen in April 1998. Prior to the sale to Volkswagen, private equity investorCVC attempted a purchase of Bugatti via UK corporate finance advisor Anglo American Ventures, however the £100m deal failed at due diligence stage.
Artioli purchasedLotus fromGeneral 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 toProton in 1996 to fund his losses due to the insolvency of Bugatti.
His daughterElena Artioli (born 1970) is a politician for theSouth Tyrolean People's Party andLega Nord Alto Adige – Südtirol.[5]TheLotus Elise was named after Romano Artioli's granddaughter Elisa Artioli.
A brand ofBugatti Rimac, a joint venture of Rimac Group andPorsche AG | |||||||||
| Bugatti Automobiles (1998–present) |
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| Bugatti Automobili (1987–95) |
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| Automobiles Ettore Bugatti (1910–62) |
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| International | |
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| Artists | |
