Have you ever wondered why some people still chase the roar of a traditional engine when electric cars seem to dominate every headline? I found myself asking that exact question after hearing the latest comments from the man running one of the most exclusive car brands on the planet. It turns out the answer is far more interesting than a simple preference for noise.
Why The Ultra-Wealthy Still Crave Combustion Power
The conversation around the future of cars has become almost predictable. Electric vehicles keep gaining ground in everyday markets, battery ranges improve, and charging networks expand. Yet at the absolute top of the automotive pyramid something very different is happening. The people who can buy any car they want are increasingly turning back toward pure mechanical drama.
Mate Rimac, the 38-year-old entrepreneur who now leads Bugatti, put it bluntly. High-end sports cars and other ultra-luxury vehicles will keep combustion engines for a very long time. He did not hedge. He did not add a polite disclaimer about eventual transition. He simply stated that the upper segment will stay combustion-powered for decades.
That statement lands with extra weight because Rimac himself built his reputation on electric hypercars. His earlier company created some of the most powerful battery-driven machines ever made. Now he finds himself overseeing the creation of one of the largest naturally aspirated engines ever fitted to a production car. Life, as he noted, can be strange sometimes.
The Swiss Watch Parallel That Changes Everything
Rimac offered a comparison that stuck with me. He pointed to the watch industry. Digital and smart watches handle the bulk of everyday demand. They track steps, answer messages, and display endless data. Yet a small slice of the market still commands the overwhelming majority of profit. Mechanical Swiss watches continue to sell for six-figure sums because they represent something deeper than pure function.
An Apple Watch can do far more than a traditional timepiece. No one, however, pays two hundred thousand dollars for one. The same logic, Rimac argued, now applies to cars. For normal people buying normal cars, electric will dominate. At the very top, buyers want the emotional experience that only a complex mechanical engine can deliver.
For normal cars, normal people, the vast majority will be electric. The upper segment, like sports cars and upwards, are going to stay combustion for a very long time, exactly like watches.
I have found that analogy surprisingly useful. It reframes the entire discussion. Performance numbers alone no longer decide the winner. A Chinese manufacturer can already deliver a car faster than most decade-old supercars for a fraction of the price. What remains scarce is the sense of human craftsmanship, the story, and the sensory drama.
A Split Market Emerging Before Our Eyes
The global car market is dividing into two distinct worlds. On one side, volume manufacturers race to lower costs and improve battery efficiency. Chinese brands in particular push aggressive pricing and rapid innovation in the electric space. On the other side, a small group of ultra-premium makers focus on exclusivity, emotional connection, and mechanical theater.
Bugatti sits firmly in the second camp. When Rimac’s group took control of the brand, many outsiders expected an immediate shift toward pure electric models. Instead the company developed the Tourbillon, a hybrid that places an enormous 8.3-liter V16 at its heart. That engine alone produces one thousand horsepower. Electric motors bring the total to roughly eighteen hundred.
Only two hundred fifty examples will ever be built. They sold out quickly at a starting price near four and a half million dollars. The average buyer then adds another six hundred to seven hundred thousand dollars in personalization. Special paint, unique leather, custom stitching, and countless other details turn each car into a singular object.
That level of customization has become a major profit engine for the entire supercar segment. Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Bugatti all lean heavily into one-off commissions and highly tailored commissions. At recent gatherings of collectors, the brand unveiled a unique interpretation of its track-focused Bolide model. Lower stance, larger wheels, and sculptural bodywork transformed an already extreme machine into something even more personal.
The Growing Hunger For Unique Objects
Rimac believes this trend reflects a deeper desire among today’s wealthy. They want objects that feel genuinely theirs. A car should tell a story about the owner’s personality and preferences rather than simply transport them from point A to point B.
In my view this shift makes perfect sense. When almost any performance metric can be matched or exceeded by a far cheaper vehicle, the remaining differentiators become emotional and narrative. The sound of a high-revving engine, the tactile feedback of complex mechanics, the knowledge that artisans spent months shaping every surface — these elements cannot be downloaded or mass-produced at scale.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect is how this desire for uniqueness sits alongside the rise of artificial intelligence and autonomous technology. While many industries celebrate the removal of human involvement, the highest end of the car market doubles down on human skill. Rimac described the guiding principle for Bugatti as a celebration of human ingenuity.
Performance is really becoming secondary. It’s more about what I call the celebration of human skills. When you look at these cars, you see the amount of ingenuity and art and beauty.
A modern supercar must still deliver extreme speed, safety, downforce, and the ability to handle snow or desert heat. Yet the way those requirements are met now carries as much weight as the numbers themselves. The car becomes a rolling sculpture that also happens to travel at two hundred fifty miles per hour.
Keeping Exclusivity While Growing Profits
Rimac’s stated goal for the brand is clear. He wants to produce the world’s best and most exciting cars while running the most profitable car company on a percentage basis. Production will never climb above low three-digit annual numbers. That hard ceiling protects exclusivity even as the company improves quality and financial results.
Last year the firm generated roughly two hundred million euros in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Further growth is expected. A recent transaction involving a significant ownership stake reportedly valued the business at substantially more than two billion dollars, higher than some earlier public estimates.
Maintaining that balance requires constant discipline. Too many cars and the mystique fades. Too few and the business cannot fund the obsessive attention to detail that customers demand. The current path seems to walk that line carefully.
What This Means For The Broader Industry
The implications stretch beyond one brand. If the ultra-luxury segment truly settles into a long-term combustion and hybrid future, other makers will face strategic choices. Some may double down on pure electric statements. Others may follow the mechanical path for their flagship models while electrifying everything else.
I suspect we will see more hybrid solutions that keep large, characterful engines while adding electric assistance for efficiency and torque fill. The Tourbillon already demonstrates that approach. The combustion heart remains the emotional centerpiece; the electric systems simply make the overall package more capable.
Collectors and enthusiasts may also place higher value on the remaining pure combustion cars built in this transitional period. Scarcity has always driven desirability in this world. Knowing that future regulations or market shifts might limit such engines could accelerate demand for the final examples.
The Human Factor In An Automated Age
Rimac returned repeatedly to one idea. In an era of artificial intelligence, self-driving systems, and battery-powered efficiency, Bugatti’s north star remains the human element. The company aims to create objects that showcase what skilled people can achieve when cost is secondary to excellence.
That philosophy feels almost countercultural right now. Much of the technology industry celebrates the removal of human friction. Algorithms optimize routes, software updates improve performance overnight, and factories increasingly rely on robots. Against that backdrop, a company that still celebrates hand-finished surfaces and complex mechanical assemblies stands out sharply.
Of course the cars must still function at the highest technical level. They need to survive crash tests, generate enormous downforce, and remain reliable under extreme conditions. Meeting those demands while preserving artistry is no small task. It requires teams that understand both engineering precision and aesthetic judgment.
In my experience following this industry, the brands that succeed at the highest level usually master that dual requirement. Pure numbers attract attention for a season. Lasting desire comes from the feeling that a particular machine could only have been created by people who care deeply about every detail.
Customization As The New Status Symbol
The average Tourbillon buyer spending an extra six or seven hundred thousand dollars on personalization reveals an important shift. Ownership itself is no longer enough. The car must become a reflection of individual identity.
Special paint colors that take months to perfect, leather sourced from specific tanneries, stitching patterns unique to one customer, and interior materials chosen after long consultations all serve that goal. One-off models push the idea even further. These unique commissions can reach tens of millions of dollars and exist solely for a single owner.
I have watched similar patterns in other luxury categories. Watches, yachts, and private residences have long offered extensive personalization. Cars lagged behind for a time because of manufacturing constraints and regulatory complexity. That gap is closing rapidly among the top brands.
The result is a more intimate relationship between maker and client. Designers and engineers spend significant time understanding not just technical requirements but personal stories. The finished car then carries that narrative in every surface and sound.
Production Limits And Long-Term Value
Rimac’s insistence on low three-digit production numbers protects more than brand prestige. It also supports residual values and collector interest over time. When only a handful of examples exist, each one retains a certain gravity in the marketplace.
History shows that the most desirable classic cars often came from limited runs. The same principle applies to contemporary hypercars. Owners who commission highly personalized examples effectively create future collectibles while still enjoying the car on the road.
That dual role — daily thrill and potential future asset — appeals strongly to the current generation of ultra-high-net-worth buyers. Many of them approach car ownership with the same analytical mindset they apply to other investments, while still wanting the emotional payoff of driving something extraordinary.
Looking Ahead Without Losing The Soul
No one can predict every regulatory or technological change of the next twenty years. What seems clear is that a meaningful portion of the wealthiest buyers will continue to seek mechanical character for as long as it remains available. Brands that understand this preference and build around it may find a durable and highly profitable niche.
Electric technology will keep improving. Autonomy will advance. Everyday transportation will become quieter and more efficient. None of that erases the human appetite for drama, craftsmanship, and individuality. In fact, the more efficient the mainstream becomes, the more distinctive the extremes may feel.
Rimac’s comments simply articulate a reality that many collectors already sense. The future of the supercar does not have to mirror the future of the family sedan. Different customers want different things, and the market is large enough to support both paths.
I keep returning to that image of two production lines in the same Croatian facility. On one side the world’s most powerful electric hypercar takes shape. On the other, technicians assemble the largest naturally aspirated engine currently destined for a road car. That coexistence captures the moment perfectly. Technology continues forward, yet the desire for pure mechanical expression refuses to disappear.
Whether you prefer the instant torque of electric motors or the rising howl of a multi-cylinder engine, the deeper conversation remains the same. What do we want our most special machines to say about us? For a growing number of buyers at the very top, the answer still involves combustion, craftsmanship, and a story that cannot be fully automated.
The next decade will test how long that preference holds. For now, the man running Bugatti seems confident it will last a very long time. Given the numbers and the waiting lists, it is hard to argue with the evidence on the ground.
In the end the debate is less about technology than about meaning. When almost any car can deliver impressive acceleration, the remaining differentiators become emotional and cultural. A well-crafted combustion engine, carefully integrated into a hand-finished chassis, still delivers a particular kind of experience that many people find irreplaceable. As long as those people exist and are willing to pay for that experience, companies like Bugatti will continue building the machines they desire.
That is not nostalgia. It is a clear-eyed reading of a market that values scarcity, story, and sensory richness at least as highly as pure efficiency. The Swiss watch comparison remains useful. Most people wear practical timepieces. A determined minority still seeks the mechanical artistry that only a small number of workshops can provide. The same dynamic now shapes the highest reaches of the car world, and it shows little sign of fading.
