Volkswagen to make decision about offloading Bugatti

Blume also confirmed higher savings targets for Porsche, saying the carmaker plans to support results by 10 billion euros ($12.1 billion) of cost cuts by 2025, up from 6 billion previously.

A sale would mark the end of an inspiring story and mark a partial unravelling of the empire built by Ferdinand Piech, the engineering genius who rescued VW from bankruptcy and, over several decades, made it one of the world’s biggest and most profitable carmakers.

The purchase of Bugatti in 1998 was something of a passion project for Piech. The brand had not produced a vehicle since going into administration in 1995 and the company’s first car under new ownership, the 1001 horsepower Veyron, cost so much to develop that Bugatti lost an estimated €4m on every single car that left the factory.