Bentley, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce – these are just a few of the high-end brands that have followed the SUV bandwagon in recent years. Ferrari will join them at the start of next week with Purosangue, while McLaren’s new boss believes sports vehicles are “very important.” Although rumors claim Bugatti will also launch a high-riding model, that won’t be the case. Well, at least not in the future.
The CEO of Mate Rimac Company revealed in an interview with German magazine Autobmobilwoche that the Bugatti SUV is not part of the 10-year plan. Also, a pure electric model won’t happen in this timeframe, which is quite surprising since most automakers will have EVs on sale by 2032. In fact, many car brands will be abandoning combustion-engined cars by then. , at least in certain markets. That said, Bugatti is no ordinary automaker, and to quote Ettore himself: “In comparison, it’s no longer a Bugatti.”
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Even though the EV has been placed at the rear, Bugatti can’t ignore electrification. Tighter emissions regulations will have an impact even on elite brands, which is why the mighty W16 engine was retired with the Mistral roadster. The Chiron successor will have no other way than adopting a hybrid powertrain, with Mate Rimac saying the car will be “highly electric.”
That likely means a streamlined combustion engine, so the sixteen cylinder factory will go the dodo way. However, Bugatti’s head honcho has promised a “very interesting combustion engine” for the Chiron replacement. We’ll have to wait a while to see the hypercar as it won’t debut until 2024. It will be interesting to know if the ICE will be a fully bespoke unit or one that comes from the VW Group petrol engine, perhaps the all-new V12 debuting next year in the successor. Lamborghini Aventador.
In the same interview with Autobmobilwoche, Mate Rimac says one of its goals is to increase the hybrid powertrain’s electric range by at least 50 kilometers (31 miles). That would allow one-percenters to get around the city without turning on the ICE.
