The original Bugatti marque was one of the most celebrated names in pre-war motorsport, winning races including Le Mans and producing landmark road and competition cars. The brand passed through various hands after World War II before Italian businessman Romano Artioli established Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. in Italy during the late 1980s and produced supercars including the EB 110 until 1998. On 22 December 1998, Volkswagen AG established Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. as a French-registered subsidiary and acquired the design and naming rights. The company purchased the 1856 Chateau Saint-Jean near Molsheim and built a modern atelier (production facility) inaugurated on 3 September 2005.
Volkswagen announced the EB 16/4 Veyron concept at the Paris, Geneva, and Detroit motor shows in 2000. The production Veyron featured an 8.0-litre W16 engine with four turbochargers producing 1,001 PS (736 kW), became the fastest production car of its era, and reached a top speed of 407 km/h. On 26 June 2010, the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport — producing 1,200 PS — set a world speed record for road-legal production cars at 431.072 km/h. All 450 Veyrons were eventually sold. The successor Chiron was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show on 29 February 2016. Powered by the same W16 engine enlarged to produce 1,500 PS and 1,600 Newton-metres of torque, it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.4 seconds with a top speed limited electronically to 420 km/h. Production was capped at 500 units. In September 2019, a modified Chiron driven by ex-racing driver and test driver Andy Wallace became the first production car to exceed 300 mph, reaching 304.773 mph (490.485 km/h) on the Volkswagen test track at Ehra-Lessien.
Following the Chiron, Bugatti expanded into limited editions and bespoke coachbuilding. The Divo, announced in 2018 and limited to 40 units at five million euros each, was a track-focused derivative of the Chiron sold out within days of announcement. The La Voiture Noire, a one-off based on the Chiron and inspired by Jean Bugatti's legendary missing Type 57 SC Atlantic, was unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show and sold for US$13.4 million. The Centodieci, limited to ten units at eight million euros each, paid homage to the EB 110 with a 1,600 PS W16 output. The Bolide, first digitally unveiled in October 2020, is Bugatti's first track-only car under Volkswagen ownership, limited to 40 production units. The Mistral roadster, unveiled in August 2022 and limited to 99 units, marked the final vehicle to use the W16 engine introduced with the Veyron in 2005. In December 2021, Bugatti officially created its own bespoke division called Sur Mesure (meaning "tailored").
In June 2024, Bugatti announced the Tourbillon as successor to the Chiron. It is the first Bugatti to use a hybrid powertrain and the first production Bugatti since the EB 110 not to use a W16 engine. Instead, it is powered by a Cosworth-engineered naturally aspirated V16 engine paired with a three-motor hybrid system producing a total output of 1,800 PS, with the engine redlining at 9,000 rpm. Production is limited to 250 examples. The car's name references the tourbillon mechanism found in high-end mechanical watches.
In September 2020, Volkswagen announced preparations to sell the Bugatti brand after approximately 700 cars had been sold since 2005. Talks began with Croatian company Rimac Automobili, resulting in the July 2021 announcement of the Bugatti Rimac joint venture. The Rimac Group holds a 55 percent stake in Bugatti Rimac, while Porsche AG holds the remaining 45 percent as well as a separate 24 percent stake in Rimac Group. The new entity was formally constituted in the fourth quarter of 2021.