Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. (French pronunciation: [bygati]) is a French luxury sports car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and is based in Molsheim, Alsace, France. The original Bugatti automobile brand was established by Ettore Bugatti (1881–1947) in 1909 at Molsheim and built sports, racing and luxury cars.
In November 2021, the company became part of Bugatti Rimac, a joint venture between Rimac Group and Porsche AG.[3] Since November 1, 2021, the company has been led by Mate Rimac as chief executive officer of Bugatti Rimac.
On December 22, 1998, Volkswagen AG, a German automotive manufacturer now controlled by Porsche SE, established Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. as a French-registered, wholly-owned subsidiary. On the same day, the company took over the design and naming rights to Bugatti from Italian businessman Romano Artioli, who built supercars (such as the EB 110 and EB 112) with Bugatti SpA in Italy between 1987 and 1998. Since 2000, the Bugatti automobile brand has officially existed as Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., still abbreviated to Bugatti. Since then, the company's headquarters have once again been located in Molsheim, France.
On 22 December 2000, Volkswagen officially incorporated Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., with former VW drivetrain chief Karl-Heinz Neumann as president. The company purchased the 1856 Château Saint-Jean, formerly Ettore Bugatti's guest house in Dorlisheim, near Molsheim, and began refurbishing it to serve as the company's headquarters. The original factory was still in the hands of Snecma, who were unwilling to part with it. At the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August 2000, VW announced that they would instead build a new modern atelier (factory) next to and south of the château. The atelier was officially inaugurated on 3 September 2005.
In September 2020, it was announced that Volkswagen was preparing to sell its Bugatti automobile brand, and talks began with the Croatian company Rimac Automobili. Around 700 Bugatti cars had been sold since 2005,[6] but Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess saw the unprofitable brand as ballast, the company said.[7]
In 2020, Bugatti delivered 77 vehicles to customers. In January 2021, Bugatti announced that it had increased its operating profit for the third year in a row. This marked the most successful year in the company's history.
In July 2021, it was announced that Bugatti Automobiles and the sports car operations of Rimac Au