July 5, 2021 - Mate Rimac's company Rimac Automobili has become the majority owner of Bugatti, and Rimac Automobili becomes Rimac Group divided into two companies - Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Technology.
This was announced this afternoon by Rimac Automobili. This confirmed the speculations that Rimac would take over Bugatti, a famous company known for super-luxury cars, reports Index.hr.
Mate Rimac accompanied the announcement of this news on Facebook with a photo showing Nevera, Bugatti, and Porsche on the runway.
More information about this great event will be announced tonight in Dubrovnik. In addition, speeches by Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili, Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche, and Lutz Meschke, vice president and chief financial officer of Porsche, have been announced.
Rimac Automobili says it is at a "turning point in the company's history," and the move, which became public today, is described as "merging with the icon of car brands, Bugatti Automobiles, into a new automotive and technology company."
In just 10 years, Rimac Automobili has progressed from a startup and one man in a garage to create a new company Bugatti Rimac d.o.o., in collaboration with two of the most famous and powerful car brands in the world - Porsche and Volkswagen Group, the statement said.
This Croatian brand has proven that it can keep up and open new vistas, imposing performance and technology standards on others. Combining Rimac's technical knowledge and efficient business with 110 years of design tradition and a strong Bugatti brand is leading to the emergence of the most important company in the hypercar market, Rimac Automobili announced.
Rimac Group will be the largest shareholder of the new company Bugatti Rimac d.o.o., with a share of 55%. Mate Rimac will retain its existing stake in the Rimac Group of 37%, Porsche remains at 24%, Hyundai Motor Group at 12%, and other investors at 27%. The development, production, and delivery of battery systems, powertrains, and other EV components, for which Rimac is known and gained the trust of many car manufacturers, will be separated into a new business entity - Rimac Technology - which the Rimac Group will wholly own. Rimac Technology remains an independent company that cooperates with many global car manufacturers, according to Rimac Automobil, from which they also sent an infographic of the new ownership structure.
Mate Rimac will head the new company. As CEO of the Rimac Group, he will lead Bugatti Rimac and the new company Rimac Technology. With this, Mate Rimac continues to manage all business segments of the Rimac Group, which now includes Bugatti. Bugatti and Rimac continue as separate brands, retaining existing production facilities and distribution channels, while the headquarters and all development for both brands will be in Croatia.
The Rimac Group will continue to innovate, create its own hypercars and develop systems and technologies for many of the world's car manufacturers. Such innovative technology will be applied in future Bugatti models, Rimac Automobil said in a statement.
Both brands, Rimac Automobili and Bugatti, will continue to develop car models within the new company. In the future, Bugatti Rimac's global headquarters will be located at the new Rimac campus, which will also be the headquarters of Rimac Technology, as well as the production of technology and components for cars of both brands, while the assembly of the Bugatti model will continue in Molsheim, France, thus continuing to use the historical location, which is inseparable from the Bugatti brand. The 200m-euro campus, with a building area of 100,000 m2, which should open in 2023, will be the base for all research and development of future Rimac and Bugatti hypercars. Conceived as the core of high-tech innovation, the Rimac campus will bring together 2,500 people driven by shared curiosity and a desire to reach extremes, the statement said.
Commenting on today's announcement, Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili, said: "This is an exciting moment in the short but turbulent history of Rimac Automobili. We have gone through so much in so little time, but this new project takes things to a whole new level. Rimac and Bugatti complement each other perfectly. As a young, agile, and fast automotive and technology company, we have won the trust of our partners and a strong position in the high-performance electrical technology industry.
With Nevera, we have also proven that we can develop and produce outstanding hypercars, which are fast and exciting, and high quality. Bugatti has more than a century of experience in engineering excellence and one of the most impressive car lines.
We recently unveiled our latest hypercar, the Nevera, which was met with positive reactions from professional media and automotive enthusiasts worldwide. I am therefore extremely excited about the potential that is combining the knowledge, technology, and value of these two amazing brands in creating some exceptional projects. In addition to creating new and exciting cars, we want to create an extremely successful and profitable company, which will be successful for the next 100 years," said Rimac.
Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche AG, said:
“We combine Bugatti’s strong expertise in the hypercar business with the enormous innovative power of Rimac in the up-and-coming field of electromobility. In this joint venture, Bugatti brings its brand of rich tradition, icons, a base of loyal customers, and a global network of dealerships. In addition to technology, Rimac is introducing a new development and organizational approach."
Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board and Member of the Management Board for Finance and Informatics of Porsche AG, said: "We bought our first stake in Rimac three years ago and have since increased it successively. This has allowed us to build a close relationship with Mate and his highly innovative team. We now benefit from the investment. Rimac helps us with his knowledge to successfully introduce an emotional and important brand of the Group into the future. I am very proud and happy that we have completed this joint investment despite many challenges. This is an important day for Bugatti, Porsche, and the entire Volkswagen Group."
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