Now that Bugatti is under the control of Rimac and its founder Mate Rimac, things within the company are starting to accelerate. But what does Rimac actually have in store for Bugatti? Will the company dig deep into electrification right away or will there be a transition? And the Chiron is in its final production phase and due for replacement, so will its successor be all-electric? Well, Mate Rimac has answers, and thanks to an interview with Automotive News Europe, we have a small idea of what we can expect.

Let’s just spill the beans right now: the next new Bugatti will not be an electric car. In fact, Mate Rimac has confirmed that the Chiron’s successor will, in fact, feature an internal combustion engine. “A Bugatti should still have a combustion engine for some time, but it will be developed in a way that is financially viable.”

Those words mean that the brand’s current W-16 is, like the Chiron, finally about to be retired. It is, after all, almost two decades old, and there’s only so much that can be done to keep it in line with new and more stringent emissions standards. So, as sad as it is to say, that legendary W-16 has to go, but that doesn’t mean next-gen Bugattis will be without a soul.

“The easiest thing for us would be to take the Nevera, and slam a Bugatti logo on it, and call it a day,” said Rimac. “But I was against it.”} So, we know the next new Bugatti won’t be a rebadged Rimac, but something special - something electrified but something with a combustion engine. Rimac confirmed that the Chiron’s successor will be “heavily electrified, but we’ll have a very attractive combustion engine. I think that we are developing the best possible solution for Bugatti, which is not an electric car today. It will be one day, but not today.”

Even better yet, Bugatti’s next combustion engine won’t be borrowed from anything with the Volkswagen Group, either. The next Bugatti engine will be built from the ground up, from scratch, and in-house. That’s not to say that other brands under the corporate umbrella – like Porsche, for example – won’t have a helping hand, but it will be something new. I wouldn’t hold out hope for it to be a big, burly W-16 or even a V-12. A hypothetical V-10 could be possible, but with words “heavy electrification” being thrown around, a V-8 or even a V-6 is certainly more likely and will make it easier to meet emission regulations in the long run.