Interbrand gave Bugatti a bolder look to grow from hyper cars into luxury

The Molsheim-based maker had not refreshed its look since the Veyron-era relaunch of 2005 — a time before the iPhone — and needed the brand to open an entirely new world of luxury experiences.

Interbrand built the new typeface from vintage French street signs and Bugatti's own photographic archive, rolled the variable font out in full across the Bugatti Newsroom and website, and debuted the look with dealer partners before a public rollout across social media logos, stationery and a new event setup.

The rebrand debuted with Bugatti's dealer partners and began rolling out publicly via social media, stationery and events, landing mid-wave in an industry run of automotive rebrands from Rolls-Royce to Aston Martin. No commercial results were reported.

In July 2022, Bugatti unveiled a corporate identity and design overhaul by Interbrand — the brand's first refresh since it was re-installed alongside the Veyron's 2005 release. Over 110 years old, the Molsheim-based manufacturer insisted it was debuting anything but a mere 'new look and feel'. 'Don't forget, at the time the Veyron came out, the iPhone did not yet exist,' said Bugatti's Hendrik Malinowski.

The refresh keeps the iconic EB logo — originally created from Ettore Bugatti's initials — unchanged. Around it, Interbrand formulated a new, far sleeker custom typeface drawn from vintage French street signs and Bugatti's own photographic archive, with the variable font rolled out in full across the new Bugatti Newsroom and the brand's online site, plus a new vibrant Bugatti Blue palette referencing the brand's French origins.

The aim is strategic: to move beyond being an exclusive hyper sports car manufacturer to a luxury brand that stands up in a 2022 market, with a look that is 'bolder, more self-confident, more modern, more progressive'. The new corporate look was already partly debuted with dealer partners and launched gradually to the public, starting with the logo on social media channels, stationery and a new event setup — part of a two-year wave of automotive rebrands including Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, BMW, Nissan, Kia, Renault and Aston Martin.

Restraint is the idea: the famous monogram stays, and the entire system around it changes.

The typeface has a traceable source — vintage French street signs and the brand's own archive — not just 'modern minimal'.

The rebrand sits inside a documented wave of automotive identity refreshes, making the timing part of the story.

Heritage brands modernise best by contrast: leave the sacred mark alone and spend the change on everything the mark sits in.

The look debuted with dealer partners in 2022 and rolled out gradually across social media, stationery and events; the source reports no commercial outcomes.