Will Bugatti's new owner Rimac save it from the SUV scourge?

"Will a step like this be too brutal, by selling that logo for some numbers?"

BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari have all moved into the intensely popular and explosively profitable SUV space with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

Lotus is the latest brand with an iconic sports legacy to reveal an SUV, under its new Chinese ownership – and outspoken holdout McLaren is expected to follow in the next few years, if only to stay flush and competitive as a sports and supercar brand. (Call it the Porsche Cayenne formula.)

The landslide of esteemed and/or exclusive brands launching SUVs appeared to continue with reports in recent years that Bugatti would enter the fight.

Sometime ago, former Bugatti boss Stephan Winkelmann confirmed Bugatti would deliver an SUV "to be used on a daily basis", with a different shape and mission to the hero Chiron car.

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Since then, Bugatti has come under the control of a new partnership between Porsche and Rimac, with the latter holding a controlling stake of 55 per cent stake. You can read about that here.

And, of course, Winkelmann has now returned to Lamborghini, where the SUV formula is doing its job of revenue growth as expected.

Now it seems there will be no Bugatti SUV – or at least, not without maintaining exclusivity – according to an interview with UK mag Autocar.

In the interview, design boss Achim Anscheidt was candid in his view on what an SUV would mean for Bugatti.

"[...] are you starting to sell out the brand? What do you do with this precious logo? Will a step like this be too brutal, by selling that logo for some numbers?", Anscheidt said.

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The 'Spartacus' concept, designed by independent artist Sajdin Osmancevic.

But, where Autocar has headlined its story "Bugatti shelves electric SUV", the next line in Anscheidt's quote appears to be less black-and-white.

"If one does [bring out an everyday/second model], I’m always a big fan of balancing this, not to forget the roots of the company or to [create] something more exclusive. This means that if you go into slightly more volumes, you should go more exclusive on the other side, so this remains the core product and it balances this.”

Language barriers notwithstanding, the above suggests Bugatti may still introduce an SUV – but it might retain the brand's air of ultra-expensive exclusivity rather than debuting as a model intended – in Winkelmann's words – "to be used on a daily basis".

For most brands, and any fan with a sense for the realities of capitalism, the SUV has become an unavoidable means to satisfy shareholders.

Whether Rimac can keep the Bugatti brand pure, relying on massive profit margins to keep volume low and steer away from SUVs... time will tell.