Bugatti could go electric via sale to Rimac - reports

After two decades developing vehicles with a quad-turbo W16 engine, Bugatti looks as though it will be going electric with the help of Rimac.

In an interview with Automobilwoche, Blume said there are “intense deliberations” going on to secure Bugatti’s future and that “various scenarios with different structures” are being investigated.

A decision is expected within the “first half of the year”, and the Croatian automaker Rimac “could play a role here because the brands are a good technological fit”.

In September last year, Car magazine reported Bugatti would be sold to Rimac.

Revived by former Volkswagen Group CEO Ferdinand Piech in the late 1990s, Bugatti could still remain within the German automaker’s orbit in order to make the deal palatable for the Piech family, which owns a major stake in automotive giant.

As part of the sale it’s said Porsche – a wholly-owned Volkswagen subsidiary – would increase its stake in Rimac to 15.5 per cent.

Selling Bugatti fully or in part to Rimac would allow the ultra-exclusive car maker to go electric without developing its electric vehicle architecture and technology from scratch.

It would also allow the Volkswagen Group to concentrate on its larger scale electrification efforts, which include the MEB architecture underpinning Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat and Audi cars, as well as the PPE platform that will serve Porsche, Audi and, likely, Bentley.