According to chelates news, Croatian electric supercar startup Rimac has announced that it is going to take over Bugatti from Volkswagen to form a new company called Bugatti Rimac. Financial Times is the first one to publish the story.
As per reports, Bugatti Rimac will be led by Mate Rimac. He is the founder of the company. He founded the company in 2009 in a garage as a one man operation. Over the years, Rimac has become a highly desirable brand. Many legacy automakers are calling upon the start up to help build their own electric supercars.
Earlier this year, Rimac released the Nevera, a quad-motor, 1914 horsepower demonstration of electric absurdity with a top speed of 258 mph and an ability to leap from zero to 60 mph in less than 2 seconds. It is expected to be the fastest sports car ever made. Previously, the title of the fastest sports car was held by the Bugatti Chiron.
As per the story, with the deal, Rimac will own a 55 percent stake in Bugatti. Bugatti is a 112 year old French brand that is known for its aggressively priced supercars like the Chiron and Veyron. The remaining stake will be owned by VW’s Porsche brand.
Since 1998, Volkswagen has owned Bugatti. At that time, it acquired the sports car brand for $50 million after acquiring Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini. The report mentions this new deal to be an all stock deal which means no money has changed hands. This was also confirmed by Porsche boss Oliver Blume.
Rimac Group will now be the owner of both Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Technologies. The latter is a subsidiary focused on the development, production, and supply of battery systems, drivetrains, and other EV components. It is worth mention that over the years, Rimac has supplied automotive components to Porsche, Hyundai, and Bugatti.
Rimac said “Bugatti and Rimac will both continue as separate respective brands, retaining existing production facilities and distribution channels. Bugatti Rimac represents the company that will develop the future of both Bugatti and Rimac vehicles, by joining resources and expertise in research and development, production, and other areas.”
As of now, both the companies will retain their respective headquarters but later on, Rimac will merge its workforce at the planned $200 million campuses in Croatia which is set to open in 2023.
In a statement, Mate Rimac said, “This is a truly exciting moment in the short, yet rapidly expanding history of Rimac Automobili. We have gone through so much in such a short space of time, but this new venture takes things to a completely new level. Rimac and Bugatti are a perfect match in terms of what we each bring to the table. As a young, agile, and fast-paced automotive and technology company, we have established ourselves as an industry pioneer in electric technologies.”
Last but not the least, Rimac also said that Bugatti would come out with an electric model this decade but would continue to produce hybrid models throughout the period.
