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Bugatti Rimac signs exclusive distribution deal with VW of America

Volkswagen Group of America (VGoA) has only just announced a deal it signed with Bugatti Rimac during Monterey Car Week last month. The deal gives VGoA exclusive rights to import and distribute Bugatti and Rimac products in the United States, and puts the COO of Bugatti America, Sascha Doering, in charge of the Rimac's American outpost as well. Mate Rimac, CEO of what's now called the Rimac Group, said, "For both the Bugatti and Rimac brands, the U.S. is the strongest single market in the world, so it’s important that we curate a sales and ownership experience befitting the extraordinary cars that weÂ’re delivering to customers. The alignment and cooperation with Volkswagen Group of America will allow a new dealer network in the States to evolve with the enormous experience and resources available to them, allowing us to combine all the best bits of a mass-market sales operation with the bespoke, customer-centric special touches that have become a hallmark of both Bugatti and Rimac brands." We suspect the news will have more effect on Bugatti dealers than Rimac dealers, but neither company explained what the new arrangement will mean. Rimac's retailer map shows seven stores in the U.S. Three of those seven also sell Bugatti, one assumes they'll only need to deal with paperwork and potential new showroom dictates. Of the remaining four, two sell numerous additional brands that include VW nameplates other than Bugatti, one appears to only sell Rimac and Koenigsegg, and one appears to sell just Rimac. Those latter two could be cut off from the herd. However, it's more likely that all of the dealers saw this coming once Rimac turned into Bugatti Rimac in 2021. For anyone interested in minutiae, Bugatti Rimac is a joint venture between Porsche and Rimac, the German sports car company owning a 45% stake, the Rimac Group owning 55%. The Rimac Group is the carmaking division and Rimac Technology, which engineers electric powertrains for other automakers like Pininfarina and is separate from the production cars, is 100% owned by Rimac Group. No matter all that. By the time Bugatti's new hybrid debuts next year, eager buyers should be clear on who they'll need to call to place a deposit. Related video:

Volkswagen building budget car family planned for China in 2018

Volkswagen has publicly pondered a low-cost car for China, something akin to Nissan's Datsun revival in Southeast Asia, for at least three years. In 2013 it tapped Chinese partner FAW to help develop an entire budget brand, with plans to have something on the market in 2016 in the 6,000- to 8,000-euro range. About a year ago, VW said it couldn't figure out how to engineer an inexpensive car that didn't run counter to the brand's values, then three weeks later said it had overcome the issues. Reuters now reports that VW CEO Martin Winterkorn told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, "We will bring a budget-car family to market in 2018, with an SUV, saloon and hatchback." Winterkorn didn't offer any other details like who VW would work with to build it - VW has partnerships with both FAW and SAIC, but the announcement will be welcomed by the brand's Chinese outpost. When this adventure started, VW said it was working to create a model that would cost 6,000 to 8,000 euro. That estimate has increased. Winterkorn is now saying the 2018 offerings will come in between 8,000 and 11,000 euro. In a straight euro-to-yuan conversion, that would equate to Chinese pricing of 56,000 to 77,000 yuan. For comparison, the New Polo with a 1.4-liter engine and a manual transmission starts at 85,900 yuan. Perhaps with an eye on the success of the Nissan-Renault sub-brand Dacia in Europe and emerging markets, Winterkorn told Bild, "We will see if this is something of interest for other markets as well." On the opposite end of the price/performance spectrum, Winterkorn also said that VW is working on two new models for Bugatti, one powered by a traditional gasoline engine and another with some sort of hybrid setup. The latter model would reportedly be the higher-performing of the two, though it's not clear whether there would be two vehicle lines or two versions of the same vehicle. As ever, as soon as we know more, so will you.

People on Elysium drive Bugattis

Product placement in movies is a big business, but is it always necessary? This is the question we asked ourselves when watching the movie trailer for Sony Picture's new film due out this fall called Elysium - a 22nd Century story about the privileged and elite who live in their own separate dwelling while Earth rots away. Toward the end of the trailer, a flying car flashes across the screen, and what familiar logo do we see on this car's rump? Yup, Bugatti.
Now, we're not saying that it's hard to imagine that in a future world - with a private inhabitance for the rich and cancer-curing machines - people would pilot flying Bugattis. It does seem like a questionable move on Bugatti's part, however, since it seems that the people of Elysium aren't exactly painted in a flattering light. We'll hold our official judgment about the movie and Bugatti's role in it, until we've watched the thing. Until then you can check out the official trailer below in which you'll also catch a glimpse of a post-apocalyptic Nissan GT-R (if you have especially sharp eyes).