Bugatti chief rules out platform sharing and hybrid drivetrains

Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Bugatti, has laid out his thinking for a second model, what might power it, and how it will affect the brand's exclusivity.

He told Autocar any second model for the Bugatti range would be a car "to be used on a daily basis" and not "only for weekends".

It has long been speculated the company is keen to add a high-performance crossover or four-door grand tourer to its lineup.

Although Winkelmann is happy to talk publicly about a second Bugatti model, he knows the Volkswagen Group is knee-deep in "an electrification revolution" and might not have the funds available to expand the Bugatti range.

Should such a model get the green light, though, it would see Bugatti double in size and greatly increase sales, possibly to the "low thousands" per year.

Despite such a dramatic jump, the CEO doesn't believe this would affect the brand's exclusivity as the cars themselves would have "close to zero visibility" because sales would only reach as high as 300 in each of the major regions, such as America, Asia and Europe.

As for what would power this hypothetical second model, Winkelmann says it could only be a pure internal combustion or all-electric drivetrain as "you will never have cutting-edge technology [with hybrid]".

Although range, infrastructure and charging speeds are not currently at acceptable levels, the Bugatti chief believes these could be solved in the next five or so years.

While platform sharing is a mantra that has spread to almost every corner of the Volkswagen Group, including Porsche and Lamborghini, it's not something Winkelmann thinks is suitable for Bugatti as there would not be anything suitable for "the performance of a Bugatti".

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