Bugatti desperately wants an SUV

Bugatti is primed to go ahead with plans to create a pure-electric SUV, despite remarks from its chief executive that such as car "would not do justice to the brand or its history".

In January this year Stephen Winkelmann vehemently denied to journalists attending the car-maker's 110th anniversary that the hypercar-maker had embarked on the creation of a rival for the Rolls-Royce SUV.

But now, according to

In a personal visit from Diess in the third week of July a follow-up to the Chiron was discussed along with an all-electric SUV that could be developed with the help of German engineering firm Edag.

Instead of building the resulting SUV itself, Bugatti is considering assembling its battery-powered SUV at a facility owned by Magna, although extra investment from its parent could fund the revival of its former Campogalliano factory.

As part of the electric development, the US mag says Bugatti has also been in consultation with Rimac via its connection with Porsche.

A source close to both car-makers suggests Rimac has been in talks with Bugatti to sell its C002 rolling chassis that comes with electric motors which, in total, produce an astonishing 1360kW.

As part of the deal the Croatian pure-electric car specialist will supply the batteries and power control units.

According to the insider, the impossibly fast ultra-luxury SUV will have just three doors.

Bugatti will make around 600 of its SUV each year, with each priced from between $850,000 ($A1.3m) to $1 million ($A1.5m), depending on specification.

As well as the SUV, Bugatti is also said to be secretly hatching a plan to replace the Chiron with a pure-electric hypercar.

To keep costs down, the zero-emission Bugatti will be based on new hypercar architecture that will be co-developed with Lamborghini and Porsche, paving the way for both an EV 918 successor and a faster hypercar to sit above the current Aventador.

In 2018 Bugatti reportedly made just 76 Chirons and, with the current car sold out until the end of 2021, it's thought a second model in the line-up would help guarantee the brand's future within the VW Group.