Sky's Ian King says it is not difficult to understand why VW would be tempted to let go of some of its luxury brands.
With net debt of around €162bn, it is the world's most indebted company, at a time when it is needing to invest billions of euros in developing electric and driverless vehicles.
At the time of its original investment, in June 2018, Porsche talked openly of transferring Mr Rimac's technology to both Bentley and Bugatti. Since then, Peter Tutzer - a key player in the development of the Veyron - has joined Rimac as its senior technical adviser. Bugatti was founded in 1909 by the Italian-born entrepreneur Ettore Bugatti in Molsheim, now part of France but then, part of Germany. The company was a pioneer in Grand Prix racing - a Bugatti won the first ever Monaco Grand Prix in 1929 - and the marque also won accolades after triumphing at Le Mans. Its cars were driven by monarchs and heads of state and the brand was lauded for turning fast cars into art.
Mr Artioli was persuaded to sell VW the Bugatti brand in June 1998 and, just a few months later, unveiled a Bugatti concept car at the Paris Motor Show. The EB118 was greeted with disbelief. Designed by Dr Piech himself, it was the first passenger car to have an 18-cylinder engine. Other versions followed and the fourth concept car became the Bugatti Veyron, launched in 2005, boasting a top speed of 407 kilometres per hour - faster than a Formula One car.
Three years later, he drove it at a new top speed of 417 kilometres per hour. Colleague Jeremy Clarkson described it as"cartoonishly fast".
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