Volkswagen said Monday that it was giving up control of Bugatti, the storied automaker whose absurdly expensive hypercars are worshiped by aficionados but seemed incongruous at a company better known for economical Golfs and Passats. Rimac will own 55 percent of the joint venture, known as Bugatti-Rimac, and Porsche will own 45 percent. The deal undoes a major legacy of Ferdinand Piëch, who dominated Volkswagen for two decades and built the company into a global empire. Volkswagen’s purchase of Bugatti out of bankruptcy in 1998, long before it owned Porsche, was widely seen as an indulgence by Mr. Piëch with questionable business logic. By his own account, Mr. Piëch, then the Volkswagen chief executive, got the idea after one of his sons admired a model of a vintage Bugatti in a souvenir shop while the family was vacationing in Spain.

Source: New York Times July 05, 2021 21:00 UTC