The decision will be made by the middle 2021.
In September 2020, rumors surfaced that the Volkswagen Group was looking for a new home to its boutique Bugatti marque. A few reports claimed that the VAG head honchos were planning to sell the Molsheim company to Rimac in a tie-up which would see Porsche’s share of the Croatian electric hypercar maker.
Flash forward to February 2021 and Oliver Blume, Porsche CEO, was speaking at the German Weekly Automobilwoche that a decision about Bugatti’s fate would be made soon. What time? “I believe the issue will be resolved by the group within the first half year.”
Rimac could play a part here, he said. The brands are a good technological match. Blume stated that VAG is currently studying “various scenarios with various structures.” This means that the direction Bugatti will go has not yet been determined and it’s too early to predict if it will change. According to Porsche’s boss, Automobilwoche, “At the moment there is intense deliberation on how Bugatti may be developed in the most efficient way.”
As they can cover both the ICE and EV spectrums, Rimac and Bugatti joining forces would be a match made for hypercar heaven. The C_Two, which will be available later in the year, is at the forefront for electric performance. While the Chiron is the ultimate example of combustion engines with its huge W16 engine, it’s expected to arrive later in the year.
Bugatti and Rimac could collaborate in some way. This would allow the latter to embrace electrification to ensure its future. It would also enable it to source tech from a company which has been exclusively developing EV powertrains ever since its inception in 2009. According to some, Porsche wants to increase its share of Rimac’s 15.5% to as high as 49 percent. This would give the Zuffenhausen brand a greater influence.
It is worth mentioning that Hyundai Motor Group, which includes luxury brand Genesis, is investing EUR80million (nearly $197M at current exchange rates), to accelerate the development of performance EVs. It will be fascinating to see how the relationship between Porsche & Rimac changes after a decision is made about Bugatti’s future.