Volkswagen is transferring its luxury brand Bugatti to a joint venture between its subsidiary Porsche and the Croatian luxury car manufacturer Rimac.
Volkswagen is transferring its luxury brand Bugatti to a joint venture between its subsidiary Porsche and the Croatian car manufacturer Rimac. The future joint venture will produce two “hypercar models”, as Porsche and Rimac announced on Monday. The Bugatti-Rimac company is scheduled to go live in the fourth quarter of 2021. Electric car manufacturer Rimac became a household name in the industry thanks to the Concept_One, which is considered to be the first electric super sports car.
Porsche and Rimac Automobili are already connected: Porsche bought Rimac in 2018 and currently holds 24 percent of the Croatian carmaker. “With its know-how, Rimac is now helping us to successfully lead an emotional and important brand into the future,” said Porsche CFO Lutz Meschke.
Cooperation with the “Elon Musk of the Balkans”
Volkswagen bought Bugatti in 1998; the joint venture with Rimac now puts an end to months of speculation about the future of the brand, which is to become electric.
“Bugatti and Rimac are a perfect match and both bring essential values”, explained the founder and boss of Rimac, 33-year-old Mate Rimac – who was once called “the Elon Musk of the Balkans” by “Business Punk” in a portrait is considered an ingenious tinkerer. Rimac is said to hold 55 percent of the joint venture and thus take control; Porsche 45 percent of the shares. Mate Rimac is to become the head of the joint venture. The antitrust authorities have yet to approve the deal.
“Bugatti is bringing a traditional brand, iconic products, a loyal customer base and a global dealer network to the joint venture,” said Porsche boss Oliver Blume. In addition to technology, Rimac “contributes new approaches to development and organization”.
The company is said to have around 430 employees when it was founded. Around 300 of them are to work at the company’s headquarters in Zagreb, and another 130 at the Bugatti site in the small French town of Molsheim.
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