Porsche Sells Stake in Bugatti, Ending 28-Year VW Group Era

A new chapter in the Bugatti story begins today, as Porsche, which became the VW Group steward of Bugatti in 2021, is selling its stake to a consortium of investors. This move marks the end of a 28-year era under Volkswagen Group's ownership. Bugatti, a storied luxury brand, dates back to 1909 when its founder Ettore Bugatti started making cars in the Alsace region contested by France and Germany.

The original incarnation of the brand lasted through two world wars but was gone by 1963. The supercar boom of the late 1980s brought Bugatti back for the first time with the high-tech EB110, a car that combined a carbon fiber monocoque built by Aérospatiale (now better known as Airbus) with an F1-sized V12 (with four turbochargers) and all-wheel drive. The Bugatti you know today returned in 1998, one of a number of projects of Ferdinand Piech, who was then boss of VW Group.

Piech wanted to show off the superiority of VW Group's engineering. One project was an ultra-streamlined commuter car, the XL1. Another was the Bugatti Veyron, a hand-built mid-engined two-seater with a thousand metric horsepower and manners so docile his grandmother could drive it to the opera.

The sale of Porsche's stake in Bugatti marks a significant shift for the brand, which has been a part of the VW Group since 1998. As electric aspirations fade, the future of Bugatti looks set to be shaped by its new investors, who will take the reins of the luxury brand.