Bugatti Chief Says Company Will Resist Electrification

These past few years, Bugatti has been going back and forth about launching a second model to sit alongside the Veyron, at first, and Chiron, more recently.

Now, that “battle” has been moved to the electrified sector of the automotive industry, with CEO Stephan Winkelmann announcing recently that discussions are undergoing with the Volkswagen Group for a possible zero-emission car to be made in Molsheim.

On the sidelines of the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show, though, Winkelmann said, according to Autocar, that Bugatti will resist the electrified era probably until the end of the next decade.

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“[When that happens], it will not just be for a push from the market, but it will be the best in the market”, he said. “[Until then], I see the internal combustion engine as having a considerable future.”

Winkelmann hasn’t completely phased out a second model, with electrification, although he admitted that it would need the Volkswagen Group’s support. “I hope it will happen and we will speak then. The VW Group has a lot on its plate with developing electrification, so we see some limits around budgets.”

In spite of staying committed to the good old internal combustion engine, Bugatti will have to cut its carbon emissions. And with around 700 units of the Veyron and Chiron on the road worldwide, each of them doing less than 1,000 miles (1,610 km) per year, they have calculated that they need to plant 4,000 trees each year. They will start doing so in 2020 as part of a partnership with a French environmental organization.

Aside from planting trees, the French automaker will also switch to using clean gas and green electricity at its Molsheim factory, where the Chiron is being put together.