Is it official? I thought it was only a rumor. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/volkswagen-selling-bugatti-rimac Its the death of Bugatti as we know it. Take out that W16 and throw in a an electric lawn mower engine.
I was told it was a done deal. Tomorrow’s WSJ will cover it I’m guessing. Also for sale: Ital Design and Lamborghini.
It will now be just another electric car with the same platform as the Lotus (or is it the PF car) and the Rimac? Was Bugatti still losing money on each car they built or were they making money on the Chiron? I dont understand why they did not launch an SUV already at $1m+. They would probably sell a few hundred per year.
What the....!!!!! I put down deposit on chiron not pagani because I will own the car deiving hard till the last day knowing that VW will back up the maintenence. Now that VW is gone, the cost will skyrocket in the long run I suspect , preventing me from driving the car.... Should I stick to Bugatti anf buy one? I don’t know what to do now... Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
This is all because of the massive fines/expenses incurred from 'dieselgate'. Are they actually going to go forward with this one-off, the Vision Le Mans concept? If just a rebody (La Voiture Noire) is close to $20 mil, what does a ground-up, clean sheet, track-only electric hypercar cost to develop and build? $50-$100 mil? (developing new trans can cost $250 mil?!!! ) Rimac drivetrain? The software side is as critical/expensive as the hardware side and Rimac is already on their 2nd gen hypercar, the C_Two . Vision Le Mans concept https://www.motor1.com/news/444410/vw-selling-bugatti-to-rimac-rumor/ Image Unavailable, Please Login
I think VW sees the hand writing on the wall. The days of a gas guzzling 240 MPH $2M+ supercar are quickly heading to being over.
I gotta disagree with that. There are over 2,800 billionaires in the world and thousands of others over $500 mil. More (and younger) every day. Ferrari, Pagani, Koenigsegg and Bugatti (limited edition) sell every hypercar they build. Most bought sight unseen. There will always be a market for the outrageous, money no object toys. Look at what people will pay for used limited edition cars like the F1. "I have one and you don't" Cut back number of standard Chirons, maybe? But they are only built to order, right? .
If every "billionaire" bought a Bugatti -- 1) that would only be 2800 made 2) the value would drop like a stone because everyone has one who can afford one. Every government is putting more and more pressure to get rid of gas powered cars. If you look into the future, its inevitable they will be phased out with supercars being the first to go.
I believe Ferdinand Piech was the driving force behind acquiring the Bugatti brand @ 1999-00 and fully supporting it over the years. Now that he is gone............he passed away last year, and VW is still reeling from the Diesel-gate scandal. The VW board probably figured it is safe to unload it now. If you look up 'demanding boss' in the dictionary, there would probably be a photo of Herr Piech.
For VW, Rimac's intellectual property (hardware/software) is the prize. For Rimac, massive customer base for it's hardware/software. "Car Magazine points out the Piech family still has a 50 percent of the controlling interest in the VW Group, and the only way to convince them to sell Bugatti would be to make Porsche a beneficiary of the exchange. The ultimate goal is for the Stuttgart brand (Porsche) to increase its share in Rimac to 49 percent. In recent years, Hyundai/Kia, Koenigsegg, Jaguar, and Magna have also invested in a company born only 11 years ago." .
Would be a shame if Bugatti became an all-electric brand, I think they'd lose something of their personality. Then again, I'm not their target audience.
I see your point. Id call your dealer and ask then what will happen to your Chiron in 5/10/20 years from now if you need parts and maintenance.
Can’t this be only another way to average out emissions among brands for VW and it has more to do with them controlling Rimac than the other way round?
Pretty clear that the next Bugatti will have a Rimac powertrain. The Rimac C_Two is $2.1+ mil now, so in Bugatti price range. Porsche spent 1 BILLION dollars developing the Taycan. They're not going to just throw all that away. Maybe Rimac tech will be reserved for the next Bug and the next Porsche hypercar. (918 successor)