As SEEbiz.eu/autonet writes on the 7th of August, 2019, rumours that Bugatti has been interested in developing and launching a crossover have been roaming the auto industry for some time now, but the details have remained left to speculation. Could Croatia's Rimac Automobili play a part in that story?

With that being said, recent information indicates that the Moslheim team is very interested in an electrically powered crossover, and Mate Rimac's one and only Rimac Automobili could be the one to play a significant role in all of this, according to a report from autonet.

At first, it was rumoured that Bugatti would use the Lamborghini's Urus to develop its crossover, but Automobile Magazine reports that the 4.0 bi-turbo V8 is not really what the famed French brand wants. The source said that those responsible for this in Bugatti thought that their new model should have an electric powertrain and instead turned to another VW Group member instead of Lamborghini.

More specifically, Bugatti reportedly contacted Rimac Automobili through Porsche, as ten percent stake in that company is now held by Porsche. Talks have also been held about the possibility of using a 1914-horsepower electric powertrain that fits into Rimac's magnificent Concept_Two.

Still, this is all mere speculation at this point and there is currently no official confirmation from any of the involved parties about these allegations for the time being, but it seems a little unusual for Bugatti to opt for the development and launch of a nearly 2000hp crossover, at least while the Chiron is still very much in production. In addition, it is expected that Bugatti could sell over 600 copies of that model of car, and possibly at a price lower than Chiron's.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more on the business scene in Croatia. If you're interested in Croatia's entrepreneurs, Croatian products and Croatian companies, follow Made in Croatia.

Mate Rimac is by far Croatia's most popular success story. Rimac, born in Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a shining star who has faced down the red tape and draconian anti-entrepreneur policies of the outdated Croatian state and managed to succeed beyond his own wildest dreams.

The founder and CEO of the celebrated Rimac Automobili, the factory of which is located in Sveta Nedjelja, just outside Zagreb, has enjoyed large investment from major firms in the automotive industry, including the likes of Porsche. In addition, he has succeeded in drawing the attention of would-be investors in the automotive industry back to Croatia, a country which had previously been almost entirely bypassed because of its infamous and bizarre love for bureaucratic processes and endless, senseless paperwork.

Mate Rimac proposed measures needed to attract the car industry to Croatia to the Croatian Government, who are of course more than ten steps behind this innovative and exceptionally talented entrepreneur, and the hope is that upon acting on Rimac's valuable advice, the days of the need for your mother's birth certificate translated and apostilled and then inspected and stamped by a state employed uhljeb just to be able to start a company will one day be over.

It seems that Mate Rimac is continuing to impress, and on the world stage. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 31st of July, 2019, Rimac Automobili's founder Mate Rimac has found himself rightfully placed on the list of the most successful young entrepreneurs and future billionaires in Eastern Europe by the popular portal Slavorum.

Mate Rimac has thus found himself in the talented company of Branko Milutinović from Serbia, the founder of Nordeus, a mobile gaming development company that is considered one of the fastest growing in all of Europe. In addition to innovation, Milutinović is also known for his humanitarian work throughout Serbia.

In addition, there is Bulgaria's Konstantin Rangelov, and his company Dronamic allows air transport of products up to 350 kilograms in a short period of time.

Last on the list is Rostislav Knap from Poland, who as a great expert in finance and business launched the company CallPage, an online service that monitors user behaviour and activities on websites.

According to Slavorum, the business done by these entrepreneurs is always on the up and they could soon become big global players.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

Mate Rimac, Croatia's golden entrepreneur gave an example to the Croatian Government when it comes to attracting investment and the automotive industry - that example was Slovakia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of July, 2019, over in Slovakia, which is hardly on the other side of the world geographically, however seems to be in every other term when compared to Croatia; Kia provided incentives of as much as a billion euros, with which they built a brand new factory.

Two years ago, the young innovative Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac invested in developing a strategy for attracting the automotive industry to Croatia, and the project he presented to the Croatian Government was designed to be the basis for new measures for this sector, Marina Šunjerga writes for Večernji list.

As stated, the apparently endlessly talented Rimac found inspiration in the most successful country in this sector - Slovakia. The timing is now excellent considering that at this point, consideration is being taken in how to boost the development of electric car technology for the new century.

Rimac Automobili is a Croatian company that has been recognised as a real generator of knowledge and experience in producing the best electric batteries in the automotive world, with the development of the fastest electric car in the world, and there lies an opportunity for Croatia to take advantage of what Rimac has achieved against the odds and properly position itself the ''car map'' of the world.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković briefly commented on yesterday's session of the Government on Rimac's initiative, saying that he believed his suggestions and ideas would be of particular importance to the Ministry of Economy for the further improvement of Croatia's investment and business climate, as well as other institutions through the aspect of education and the labour market, to contribute to further attracting the automotive industry to Croatia.

We have not yet heard the new measures that could attract companies such as Hyundai or Volkswagen to Croatia, and from the Ministry of the Economy, which Plenković has been pushing to develop new measures, they stated that Rimac and other automotive investors can count on all the measures within the Investment Promotion Act, which includes a reduction of the profit tax base and incentives for every new employee.

They also added that consideration is being given to the possibility that the realisation of a Rimac Campus would be facilitated by the Croatian Government, by giving the company land owned by the state.

This is a project that comes with a hefty price tag of between 80 and 100 million euros, which would include a centre for development and innovation for as many as 2000 employees.

While it all sounds straightforward enough, this is still Croatia, and the idea of realisation through land-delivery is not as feasible as it might sound at first, because they would have to go through a local unit that could eventually provide the company with a free location. This doesn't happen overnight.

With that land, Rimac would be able to count on all the standard incentives like all the other investors in this field do. According to the investment calculator, the investor would receive about 12 million kuna of direct incentives and about six million kuna of tax incentives in support for employment, which is a substantial amount for an investor as it exceeds 15 percent of the investment value.

Croatia gets a lot of bashing for its poor investment climate, but there are actually measures in place which are quite favourable, and although incentives in Croatia aren't small, the automotive industry's attraction to the country is spoiled by the poor attitude and the slow, cumbersome approach that has become synonymous with Croatia, and are looking for a much more proactive approach from politicians.

Slovakia has attracted billions of euros in investments over the past twenty years, resulting in the realisation of 34 large projects, and it's now the country with the highest number of cars per capita in the world. The project started with a smaller VW investment in Bratislava way back in 1993.

Slovakia cut profit tax from 40 all the way down to just 19 percent, and the investors completely free from having to pay tax for five years. Like Croatia, it offered quite handsome incentives in terms of employment, and he Slovakian politicians were at the disposal of investors. VW has invested 302 million euros in Slovakia so far, and has received tens of millions of euros in incentives from the Slovaks. It's a relationship which works harmoniously, and is also something that is difficult to imagine for Croatia and its draconian laws and rates.

Could everything be about to change? Has spending time with the amazing Mate Rimac opened the Croatian Government's tightly closed eyes? Only time will tell.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more.

Mate Rimac and his company Rimac Automobili are known for their tireless efforts, but they've been all systems go over the last few weeks in terms of trying to finally make the Croatian Government see sense when it comes to attracting foreign investment into the automotive industry, which is currently an industry entirely bypassing Croatia, favouring its neighbours with more friendly, less draconian policies instead.

Is all this about to finally alter? After Mate Rimac managed to arrange a meeting with the Prime Minister, following a long period of HDZ's main man seeming to disregard the idea, this innovative Croatian entrepreneur has been doing all he can to show PM Plenković, who was visibly impressed with what he saw at the Rimac Automobili plant in Sveta Nedjelja, as well as his government delegates, just how investment can be attracted, and how Croatia can jump on the well-paying automotive industry's train before it's too late.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of July, 2019, following the meeting held between Mate Rimac and Andrej Plenković last week, Mate Rimac announced on Facebook that Hyundai, which has the utmost respect for Rimac, now officially supports the initiative to bring the car industry to the Republic of Croatia.

This is a truly incredible move for a country which succeeds in doing very little in terms of investment, other than turning it away and giving anyone who does try a far more difficult time than could ever be considered necessary. A move that could not have been made a reality if it weren't for the incredible Mate Rimac.

"Hyundai officially supports the initiative to bring the automotive industry to Croatia. I hope this opportunity will be utilised,'' said Mate Rimac on his Facebook profile today after Hyundai released a press release on its official website regarding Friday's meeting on the potential of the automotive industry in Croatia.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more.

Just what did Prime Minister Andrej Plenković take away from finally attending a meeting with Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac at Rimac Automobili in Sveta Nedjelja?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes on the 30th of June, 2019, after Mate Rimac reached out with apparently little response from the HDZ leader, this is now the second time in one week that entrepreneur Mate Rimac, owner of Rimac Automobili, and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković have spent time together.

The pair held a meeting at the headquarters of Mate Rimac's company in Sveta Nedjelja, along with representatives of both Hyundai and Porsche, as well as five government ministers, and discussed the potential of attracting investment and stength to the car industry in Croatia.

"The car industry is changing and this is a chance for Croatia. We want to bring the best quality industry, not one based on cheap labour. We have the support of our investors. We want to work together on it and not end up saying that we've missed out on the car industry of the future. Let's create the conditions for foreign investors to make it interesting for them to come to Croatia,'' said Mate Rimac, when presenting the Croatian Government delegation his concrete guidelines for attracting investors to the car industry, a study which has taken him two years to complete.

When it was recently announced that Croatia's GDP grew by 3.9 percent in the first quarter, this news triggered the politicians' sense of self-praise and the disbelief of numerous experts, including those who doubted the fiture, and claimed it was a mistake.

That alone is the precise picture and opportunity of the Croatian economy which is continually growing faster than its potential ever can. Slow and expensive administration, high taxes, too large a share of the state in the economy, a generally fixed set of labour prices; all of this is extremely off-putting to Croatian entrepreneurs, and makes the country very uninteresting to foreign investors (with the exception of those wanting to flash their cash in the otherwise successful field of Croatian tourism) and as such, limits any prospects for a better future in terms of foreign investment in Croatia's other economic branches. Not counting tax breaks, the Croatian Government had to rather dramatically put out fires in two large and significant companies - Agrokor and Uljanik.

That's a meeting with the likes of Mate Rimac and his company's investors from Hyundai and Kia, as well as an extensive presentation on the possibilities of attracting foreign investment to the car industry in Croatia was an excellent and likely eye-opening opportunity for the head of the Croatian Government and his delegates.

Mate Rimac has succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams thanks to the killer combination of sheer talent, stubbornness, and enthusiasm, but large car makers will pay much more attention to their investment decisions through comparative advantages, which implies exclusive figures, and not sentiment, emotions or feelings.

"Croatia needs interest in the car industry like the level of interest that exists for the football team, you'll get our support in technology and our experience, but that isn't going to be enough," said Porsche's Lutz Meschke, vice chairman of the executive committee.

Initiatives always come from the private sector, which best knows any real economy, but then the state gets involved. With concrete moves and reforms, Croatia could attract investment and entrepreneurship development. A sample example is the Czech Republic, where industry makes up a third of the economy, with the car industry accounting for about six percent of gross added value. The Czech Republic is now at an impressive 90 percent of the EU's development average, and Croatia is currently at 63 percent.

It's unrealistic to expect that Croatia will repeat the successes of the Czech Republic or Slovakia and employ tens of thousands of people like it once did in shipyards, but the tectonic changes in that industry are a chance we must not miss on. It opens the door to creating high value-added jobs for the highly educated, for innovators and creatives, as well as opening the door for productivity growth. And finally, that we import intelligene.

''I think we'll continue to cooperate, work synergistically, and see which concrete moves the Croatian Government will make," the prime minister promised.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

ZAGREB, June 28, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and five government ministers as well as representatives of Hyundai and Porsche on Friday held talks at the Rimac Automobili company, located in Sveta Nedelja outside Zagreb, on the potential of the automobile industry and ways of attracting it to Croatia, with Rimac Automobili owner Mate Rimac presenting a study with concrete guidelines on how to attract such investments.

Earlier this week, Plenković held a meeting with Rimac, the founder of one of the leading producers of electric vehicles and high-performance technology, after which a visit to his company was announced.

Hyundai Motor Group and Kia have so far invested EUR 80 million in Rimac Automobili while Porsche has invested 18 million euro.

Upon arriving at Rimac Automobili, Plenković and other guests first toured the company's production units, after which Rimac presented a study with specific guidelines and measures as to how Croatia could attract investments in the automobile industry.

Rimac noted that Croatia could be attractive to car producers if it had comparative advantages. That way, it could become an investment destination, which unfortunately is not the case at the moment, Rimac said.

He singled out the examples of Slovakia and Estonia, which have a population of the size similar to that of Croatia and which over the last ten years have significantly increased their GDP owing to investments in the car industry, which Rimac believes is also possible in Croatia.

"The key to success in the automobile industry is a country's strategy and vision of what it wants to achieve. I believe that now is the right time for Croatia to join the so-called third wave of investments in the car industry because we missed out on that opportunity in the last ten years," said Rimac.

He said that the first investment wave in the car industry caught the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the second caught again Slovakia as well as Romania, while the third one could include Croatia, in which all of his partners were interested as were representatives of Hyundai and Porsche.

Hyundai owns a 14% interest in Rimac Automobili and Porsche a 10% interest.

"Your achievements are great; you have made an analysis that compares Croatia against other countries and shows how Croatia could become involved more strongly. That is why we will now hold two-hour talks on what we can do together in that regard," Plenković said.

More news about Rimac Automobili can be found in the Business section.

As Novac/Filip Pavic writes on the 24th of June, 2019, Mate Rimac, the founder of the Croatian supercar company Rimac Automobili and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met in the afternoon a couple of days ago in Banski Dvori. During their 45-minute-long talk, which was also attended by Economy Minister Darko Horvat, Rimac agreed with the prime minister for him to finally pay a visit to his facility in Sveta Nedjelja near Zagreb.

Since Prime Minister Plenković has not yet visited Rimac's supercar factory, he has three-hour tour awaiting him on Friday, and there will also be a presentation on how to attract investment and improve the economic climate for investment in the Croatian car industry. Along with Prime Minister Plenković, Minister of Labour Marko Pavić, Minister of Economy Darko Horvat and Finance Minister Zdravko Marić confirmed their planned arrival to Sveta Nedjelja, and the arrival of Education Minister Blaženka Divjak is also possible.

This delegation of the Croatian Government will meet and list, first of all, to the experiences of investing in Croatia from Rimac's prestigious shareholders, made up of representatives of international automotive companies including Porsche, Hyundai and Kia, who have invested 100 million euros in Rimac Automobili over the past few years. Listening to their stories will hopefully be a wake up call for the group of politicians.

In addition, Rimac will share the likely damning results of an intensive two-year study, which analyses why Croatia lags so miserably behind other nearby European countries when it comes to the car industry, and why so many rounds of investment in that field over the past few years have totally, and intentionally, bypassed the Republic of Croatia.

The recent meeting between the two is the result of a multi-month agreement between Plenković and Rimac, which Jutarnji list recently covered, stating that Rimac was finding it all but impossible get an actual date for a meeting with the prime minister. A fact much of the public were unhappy with the HDZ leader for, especially given the positive publicity and investment Rimac has brought to Croatia.

''They know about my ideas. I've already mentioned them on a couple of occasions. I want to present them to the very heads of the government, but we've not been able to sort a date out yet. I gave them some dates over the next two months when I'm available and I'm waiting for their response as to when Plenković can come and see the presentation,'' said Rimac back then.

Despite the fact that Plenković hasn't visited Rimac Autmobili yet made little difference to Rimac's personal and professional drive, the innovative Croatian entrepreneur didn't hang around waiting for his arrival.

Back in May, he published nineteen measures to develop the car industry in Croatia at the Croatia E-mobility Forum. He let the Croatian Government know that we could have up to 50,000 new jobs in that industry alone, as well as the equivalent of nearly half a billion dollars more in the budget, enough for "one and a half Pelješac bridges, 23 university homes, or 53 schools'' had Croatia set its sights on that type of investment at the correct time, just as other countries in the vicinity, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary already have.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more.

June the 24th, 2019 - Mate Rimac has uploaded the fourth video in his ''Discover Rimac Today'' series on the Rimac Automobili YouTube channel.

Mate Rimac has opened up the doors of his incredible factory in Sveta Nedjelja near Zagreb for the world to see after a visit from British YouTuber Shmee150, who left the premises following a lengthy guided tour by Mate Rimac himself utterly astonished at what he saw, at the Croatian entrepreneur's knowledge of each and every process that takes place at the factory, and the fact that all of this is happening in Croatia.

By far Croatia's most inspiring success story, Mate Rimac is the definition of self-made. Having been born in Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, he doesn't hail from a wealthy background, and having been made to deal with the terrible red tape of the Croatian state, which is no friend to any would-be entrepreneur or their ideas, Rimac managed to succeed, and to a level that not even he could have ever expected.

Until recently, what went on at his plant in Sveta Nedjelja was a bit of a mystery. All we knew was that these incredible Croatian supercars which have delighted the world and been proclaimed the fastest electric cars on the planet, were designed and made there.

Following a visit by British car enthusiast Shmee150, who has a large following, the talented entrepreneur decided to take the public behind closed doors and allow us into his truly remarkable world. Rimac's knowledge of each and every intimate detail of the processes behind the creation of this fascinating vehicles is astounding. If you'd like to watch the previous videos in his series, all of which are in English, click here, here, and here. 

Watch the latest video in the popular series here:

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page for much more on Croatian entrepreneurs, Croatian companies, and Croatian products and services.

One of Croatia's most inspiring success stories is that of Mate Rimac, by far. 

Rimac, an unassuming man in his thirties from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, appears to have done what little to no other people manage to do in Croatia, and his progressive way of thinking as a daring and innovative entrepreneur has seen his company reach heights of success that not even he could have imagined in his wildest dreams when first starting out.

The Rimac Concept_One was once proclaimed the world's fastest electric car, and what is most surprising of all, as that these truly incredible electric vehicles are designed, built and finished right here in Croatia, more precisely in a factory located in Sveta Nedjelja near Zagreb.

Recently, Rimac attracted the attention of British YouTuber Shmee150 who went to the factory and was given an extensive tour around the premises by no less than Mate Rimac himself, who guided the YouTuber around, detailing each and every process that goes into the design and creation of these Croatian cars in perfect English. Shmee150, who is followed by a large number of car fanatics, was visibly shocked by what he had seen at the factory, as well as by Rimac's seemingly endless knowledge about what takes place there.

Following that visit, Mate Rimac began to upload his own YouTube videos in a series, you can watch them in order by clicking here, here, and here.

Rimac's Concept_Two has now appeared in a popular computer game, offering yet more publicity to the man and his company who refused to let the draconian policies of the Croatian state get him down and proved that one can absolutely succeed in Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of June, 2019, Forza Horizon 4, an extremely popular computer game, has featured no less than Rimac's Concept_Two.

"With 1914 hp, C_Two is the most powerful hyper-car in the world. Its amazing performance allows acceleration from 0-60 miles per hour in 1.85 seconds, 0-186 miles per hour in 11.8 seconds or 0-100 kilometres per hour in 1.97 seconds. Now this experience has been enabled in the virtual world. Racing simulations are more than a game, here, reality and the virtual world become one.''

Watch a clip of Rimac's C_Two featured in the popular game here:

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

ZAGREB, June 15, 2019 - Liu Changlai, CEO of the Camel Group, a company that together with Rimac Automobili started building a factory for propulsion systems for electric vehicles, on Friday said that the group would in future intensify its cooperation with Rimac and that by the year's end the jointly built company in the city of Xiangyang will have a capacity of producing 150,000 propulsion systems a year.

Liu Changlai confirmed the news of the intensified cooperation to Hina after a meeting in the Zagreb City Assembly where a memorandum of understanding between the cities of Zagreb and Xiangyang was signed. The CEO was part of a senior delegation from that Chinese city on visit to Zagreb. The founder of Rimac Automobili, Mate Rimac, also attended the meeting.

In 2017 the Camel Group invested 30 million euro in Rimac Automobili and last year Camel and Rimac made a joint investment in Xiangyang for the construction of the local factory where propulsion systems will be manufactured for electric vehicles as well as motors and power inverters.

Liu underscored the strong support that Xiangyang city authorities provided during the construction of the factory which amounted to 10 million euro. The Camel Group invested 20 million euro and Rimac Automobili provided 5 million euro.

Camel's CEO underscored that the company is the biggest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles in Asia and added that in future it would intensify its investments in Rimac Automobili.

Part of the factory that has a capacity of manufacturing 25,000 propulsion systems a year, has already been completed.

More news about Rimac Automobili can be found in the Business section.