Only days after announcing a restructuring that could put 344 jobs at risk, D’Ieteren Automotive has opened a new Bugatti showroom and workshop in Drogenbos, south of Brussels.

At first sight, the timing could hardly be more contradictory. In reality, it says a lot about where Belgium’s biggest car importer thinks money will still be made in the car business.

The new Bugatti Brussels site brings sales and after-sales together at D’Ieteren’s luxury cluster in Drogenbos, where Bentley, Lamborghini and Rimac are already housed, and Porsche sits next door.

Two technicians have received specialized training at Bugatti in Molsheim, and the workshop will maintain not only recent models but also historic Bugattis.

Six Tourbillons for tiny Belgium

There is enough work to justify that expertise. Belgium currently counts 15 modern Bugattis dating from the Veyron era onward. Six more cars are already on the way in the form of the new 1,800-hp Tourbillon.

With only 250 Tourbillons planned worldwide, Belgian customers have secured 2.4% of total production. At €3.8 million before tax, the car costs roughly €4.6 million including Belgian VAT before options.

That may sound absurdly disproportionate for a country of barely 12 million people, but Bugatti is not an isolated case. Belgium has a remarkably healthy appetite for expensive cars, even as its overall new-car market shrinks.

33% more Ferraris sold

FEBIAC figures show 202 Ferrari registrations in 2025, up almost 33% in a year when Belgium’s total passenger-car market fell 7.5% to 414,770 units. Bentley rose to 105 registrations, Lamborghini reached 95, Aston Martin reached 82, and Rolls-Royce reached 28.

Ferrari offers a useful indication of how unusual Belgium is. Its 202 registrations work out at roughly 17 new Ferraris per million inhabitants.

Germany was still higher, at about 21 per million with 1,746 cars, but the Netherlands registered only 116, around six per million, while France’s 403 cars also equate to roughly six per million. Belgium therefore punches far above its weight in terms of population, even compared with much larger European car markets.

And the trend has not disappeared in 2026. Through August, Belgium had registered another 143 Ferraris, 74 Lamborghinis and 65 Aston Martins.

From volume to value

This helps explain why D’Ieteren is treating the top of the market very differently from the middle of the market. Last week, the company said the traditional new-car model is under structural pressure and launched a 2026-2030 transformation plan.

Up to 344 jobs could disappear under the proposal, with sites and functions consolidated as D’Ieteren places greater emphasis on used cars, financing, insurance, maintenance, and mobility services.

The goal is increasingly to earn from customers throughout the entire life of a vehicle rather than mainly at the moment of sale. A Bugatti is an extreme illustration of that logic.

A Veyron sold twenty years ago can still return to Drogenbos for highly specialized maintenance; a historic Bugatti can remain a customer asset for generations. Owners are also far less price-sensitive and tend to own collections rather than simply replace one car with another.

D’Ieteren had already created Luxury Performance to group Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rimac and Maserati. It says the highest luxury segment could grow by 8-14% by 2030, while almost one in three “real luxury” cars sold in Belgium already passes through D’Ieteren.

The opening in Drogenbos should therefore not simply be read as D’Ieteren spending lavishly on a niche while cutting jobs elsewhere. Bugatti is moving from its standalone Rue du Mail premises in Brussels to an existing luxury hub, which aligns with the group’s drive to consolidate locations and share supporting services.

An awkward contrast nevertheless

But the social contrast is striking. As hundreds of jobs in the volume business face uncertainty because selling ordinary new cars is becoming harder and less profitable, D’Ieteren is strengthening the business aimed at customers prepared to spend several million euros on a single vehicle.

The message could hardly be clearer: D’Ieteren does not believe the car business is disappearing. It believes the value is moving away from sheer volume and toward services, lifetime customer relationships and, at the very top, scarcity.