Electric hypercar maker Rimac Automobili and Volkswagen’s supercar brand Bugatti are a good technological fit, Porsche AG’s CEO told German weekly Automobilwoche, fuelling hopes that a deal between the two could happen soon.

British automotive magazine Car last year reported here that Volkswagen was on the verge of selling Bugatti to Rimac Automobili, citing sources.

In exchange, Porsche AG, also owned by Volkswagen, would raise the 15.5 per cent stake it owns in Rimac Automobili, founded by Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac, Car said.

“At the moment there are intense deliberations on how Bugatti can be developed in the best possible way. Rimac could play a role here because the brands are a good technological fit,’ Porsche AG CEO Oliver Blume said.

‘There are various scenarios with different structures. I believe that the issue will be decided by the group in the first half of the year,’ said Blume, who also sits on the management board of parent Volkswagen AG.

Rimac has developed an electric supercar platform, which he supplies to other carmakers, including Automobili Pininfarina.

Blume also confirmed higher savings targets for Porsche, saying the carmaker plans to support results by 10 billion euros ($12.1 billion) of cost cuts by 2025, up from 6 billion previously.

A sale would mark the end of an inspiring story and mark a partial unravelling of the empire built by Ferdinand Piech, the engineering genius who rescued VW from bankruptcy and, over several decades, made it one of the world’s biggest and most profitable carmakers.

The purchase of Bugatti in 1998 was something of a passion project for Piech. The brand had not produced a vehicle since going into administration in 1995 and the company’s first car under new ownership, the 1001 horsepower Veyron, cost so much to develop that Bugatti lost an estimated €4m on every single car that left the factory.