Update: We just talked to Bugatti’s head of communication Tim Bravo who told us that the company is “not commenting” on the rumors of a potential sale of the hypercar brand to Rimac. He did however emphasize that Bugatti has been profitable for the past two years and is on track to top last year’s sales, despite the pandemic.
Reports are coming in about the VW Group looking to unload Bugatti to Rimac via Porsche, in exchange for a larger piece of the EV-maker. Porsche currently owns a 15.5% share in Rimac.
According to sources, VW executives have already approved the deal, although the group’s supervisory board has yet to sign off, as per Car Magazine.
Read Also: Bugatti’s Crossover Could Be An All-Electric With Rimac Tech
While this news really does come as a surprise, we can understand why it would make sense for both parties – but especially for the VW Group. The German carmaker is on a mission to transform itself, focusing on electrification, digitalisation and self-driving tech, and gasoline-powered hypercars don’t really fit in any of those three categories.
It’s also possible that this deal might go down without any money being exchanged. VW could be looking to own as much as 49% of Rimac, while the latter would receive the Bugatti brand and with it the infrastructure it needs in order to boost production of its EV hypercars.
Porsche took its first bite out of Rimac back in 2018 by purchasing a 10% share, which they further increased last year. According to Rimac founder Mate Rimac, there are 15 companies that are currently using its tech know-how, and by his account, they’re the best in the world at it.
“Our powertrain systems are the highest power density, and the highest energy density. If you need to have as much power in as little space as possible, you come to us,” he told Car Magazine earlier this year.
It will also be interesting to see what happens to Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann if the Rimac deal goes through. Some believe that he’ll be as good as gone, though not before green-lighting the Vision Le Mans track-only hypercar.
VW could ditch more brands
Sources in the know about the Bugatti situation are also claiming that Lamborghini and SEAT are also under investigation and could be sold, or in case of SEAT, repositioned by having it merge with Cupra, which would then become the main brand. Once these two are dealt with, VW could also start looking to move Ital Design, Bentley and Ducati.
