June 3, 2021 – Croatian automotive sensation Rimac Nevera has made its way down to Dubrovnik where it awaits potential buyers. 

Rimac Automobili is a Croatian wonder. This boutique car manufacturer makes some of the fastest and most advanced electric hypercars in the world. After the great success of its Concept One, the new production car is Nevera. Nevera is a term on the Croatian coast describing a storm over the sea which can come out of nowhere and end up being deadly. What an apt name for the strongest production car in the world, measuring 1914 BHP.

We reported on the details of Rimac Nevera. The mastermind behind the company Mate Rimac is very happy with the end result. He stated the car's components are completely custom designed just for this model. With an impressive 0-100km/h achieved in 1,85 seconds, it is clear Rimac has created another head-turning masterpiece.

What's Next?

The latest news coming out of Dubrovacki Dnevnik is that Rimac Nevera is already in Dubrovnik. More precisely, it is at Sun Gardens Resort, just outside of Dubrovnik. Here, the potential buyers will enjoy the first look at the finished product. The resort, which already has a few car-related events of the highest order under its belt, will be a wonderful setting for the official sales event. With the price tag of 2 million, Rimac Nevera is not a car that many will buy. In fact, only around 150 units of these cars are going into production, as it stands now.

With Nevera's being officially revealed only days ago, we are expecting a surge of news, articles, and media hype over this unique car of unparalleled characteristics. Perhaps it is time to follow up the success of Rimac Automobili with other Croatian companies focusing on alternative power sources. It just might be the niche this country's economy is so desperately searching for.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

June 1st, 2021 - Rimac Automobili just announced their newest model, 'Nevera,' the best electric hypercar and the most powerful car with the best acceleration in the world. 

Picking a name for a new car model is never an easy task, and Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili, wanted the name to be meaningful and reflect Rimac's creation rules and car character. The newest model is named after an electrified, powerful, and unique force of nature, the summer storm of the Mediterranean. 

"At the beginning of the project, we set ourselves really high targets; global homologation, fastest acceleration of any car, most powerful production ever, lots of features and functionalities, autonomous driving features, and comfort in the car. Making it usable, not just to sit in the garage but for people to actually enjoy it," said Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili.

"I'm very proud that we nailed pretty much everything and even overachieved with some of our targets. One of the things that make this car very special is that everything has been developed and designed specifically for this car. Everything is custom developed for this car by our team here. 

We are really proud of the results and think we have something really special", Rimac stated. 

Never in history has there been a car like the Rimac Nevera, a fully electric next-generation hypercar that opens up new dimensions in road performance.

Compared to the concept, the numbers remain the same: with 1914 horsepower from four electric motors, the Nevera can accelerate to 100 km/h in 1.85 seconds and 100 miles per hour in just 4.3 seconds. Stunning acceleration is maintained throughout the full-throttle cycle and reaches 300 km/h from the start in 9.3 seconds.

The first test drive was done just last week on the airstrip of island Pag and documented on some of the most famous YouTube car channels in the world, the Late Break Show, CarWow, Mat Watson Cars, and many more. 

As part of the user journey, every Nevera owner will be invited to Croatia to design their car to their liking. Nevera is exclusively available through Rimac’s global network of partners at 19 locations and more, located in many of the largest cities across Europe, North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Check out the full model reveal below! 

For more information about things in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

May the 31st, 2021 - Mate Rimac is set to reveal yet another more than likely jaw-dropping electric Croatian supercar on social media, which will also boast a new name.

When it comes to Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac, there aren't many who have a bad word to say. The owner of the internationally recognised Rimac Automobili, headquartered in Sveta Nedelja near Zagreb, has placed Croatia on the global automotive map, providing it with a position that would never have occurred otherwise in this country with next to no automotive output globally.

This Livno-born car lover boasts dogged determination and a true love for cars. Having busted the myth that ''nothing can be done in Croatia unless you belong to a certain party'' quite successfully indeed with his strong combination of grit and an inventive mind, this 34 year old entrepreneur has even schooled the government in how to attract foreign interest following his massive cash injection from no less than German car giant Porsche.

Having been compared to both Elon Musk and his fellow countryman Nikola Tesla, Mate Rimac, who is currently busy creating his new campus, has made it more than clear that when it comes to creating the iconic Croatian supercar brand, he isn't planning to stop at ''just'' the Concept_One and Concept_Two. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Mate Rimac's company Rimac Automobili announced that on Tuesday, June the 1st, 2021, they will present their brand new electric Croatian supercar which will be made in series production on social media.

The new Croatian supercar, hitherto known as the C_Two, will also be given a special new name.

Mate Rimac recently posted a video on his personal Facebook profile taken while testing this model out in Zemunik. He wrote that ''every day two world journalists test the production version of the car he designed, developed and produced right here in Croatia, in spite of everything.''

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

May the 30th, 2021 - The German Die Welt publication, which is highly popular among German readers, has praised Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac once again, referring to him as the Elon Musk of the Balkans.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the German Die Welt reported that ''Mate Rimac actually just wanted to be a successful professional auto-moto driver, but over time he became a symbol of hope for car manufacturers on the road to electromobility,''

The Berlin-based Die Welt looks back at one episode with which the success story of this much loved Croatian entrepreneur began. Mate Rimac's old BMW "troika" failed in one race and the engine "died", writes Die Welt journalist Thomas Geiger: "At that time, it seemed like the biggest possible accident that could happen, but in actual fact, nothing better could have ever happened to Mate Rimac...''

If it weren't for that technical problem, Rimac might never have come up with the idea to install the simple electric motor of a forklift in his car, instead of an expensive new engine. And so, writes the German Die Welt, Rimac's green "troika" became the well known "Green Monster", and Rimac himself became the "king of drifting". The innovative Croat's videos were watched by millions of people on YouTube, and later he became "the man who made the strongest sports e-car in the world, that is, an ardent supporter of electric propulsion".

"The Elon Musk of the Balkans"

"A skilful Croat with an almost shy smile hidden behind a thick beard is currently one of the most sought-after people in the industry," the German newspaper wrote in its article entitled "Visionary under voltage", emphasising that Rimac is only 33 years old, and that a lot has happened in his life in the past ten years alone. "Once an average student, and then an ingenious inventor" is now a partner and supplier of sophisticated technological solutions, from batteries to engines - he has become the "Elon Musk of the Balkans", writes the German Die Welt, as reported by Deutsche Welle.

The fact that this remarkable entrepreneur comes from Croatia gives this whole story an additional, special element, writes the Berlin daily. "On the colourful car map of the world, the former Yugoslavia has been a relatively white spot since the end of production of the small Yugo back in 2008, there are almost no automotive manufacturers there. Nevertheless, decisive development began right there: only 200 kilometres southeast of the headquarters of Rimac's company in Sveta Nedelja, a certain Nikola Tesla was born,'' notes the German Die Welt.

''Rimac is geographically closer to Tesla than he is to Elon Musk,'' writes the German journalist.

Regardless of the electrical engineering thanks to which he became famous, Rimac doesn't "insist" on changing the world for the better, at least not on the road, the article notes:

”Rimac's penchant for e-cars has its source not in environmental protection, but in the joy of driving, the taste that these cars give him,'' notes the journalist.

Regardless of all the successes that Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac has stacked up over recent years, and despite all the models he has developed and sold for high sums of money, "Die Welt" still notices one particularly Croatian problem plaguing the entire thing - the lack of skilled labour.

"Croatia isn't exactly the armpit of the world, but the outskirts of Zagreb aren't a magnet for experts from abroad either. That's why it isn't surprising that Rimac is currently planning a new headquarters, which is a bit reminiscent of Autostadt in Wolfsburg or a little more like Apple's headquarters in Cupertino/ And in those new headquarters, Rimac's Green Monster will of course get a place of honour,'' concludes the German Die Welt article.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

May 24, 2021 - A new Rimac project in Zagreb envisions a mobility center, self-driving taxis, a town square, and a park right on the Sava. 

The founder of Rimac Automobili is taking the first step towards realizing a 3.4 billion kuna project to develop and establish a network of electric self-driving taxis in Zagreb, reports Index.hr.

In 2024, Zagreb will become one of the first cities in the world where a robotaxi service will be available - the use of self-driving, electric taxis via an application. Sounds crazy, right? If we trust the entrepreneur Mate Rimac, it will soon become a reality, Index adds. 

Namely, the founder of Rimac Automobili is starting to build a park, square, storage, and charging station for electric, self-driving taxis, or robotaxis, as they are called, on the Sava - on a meadow across from the Zagreb "Stjepan Radić" Student Home.

The competition has been announced and the solutions of the architects are arriving, and the entire facility should be completed by the end of 2022. The robotics service in Zagreb should be launched by 2024. And right at the beginning of Jarunska Street, Rimac will build a base for robots, from where they will scatter towards the city and return to recharge their batteries.

The complex, officially called the Mobility Center - which includes a town square, a park, and an e-charging station - is only the first step towards realizing the 3.4 billion kuna Rimac project, announced in March this year, to develop and establish a network of electric, autonomous taxis in Zagreb.

As Rimac replied, the idea is that the Mobility Center on the Sava serves two purposes.

"The idea is to create such a center of autonomous mobility on the Sava that would have, on the one hand, a social role, a place where people will come to meet new technologies and talk to experts in a pleasant environment, and on the other, functional side, for charging, maintaining and cleaning robotaxi vehicles in an environmentally sustainable way," explained Rimac.

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April 26, 2021 - Rimac C_Two against Porsche Taycan - which is faster? Mate Rimac races to find out. 

Mate Rimac published a video of the race between the Rimac C_Two and Porsche Taycan Turbo S on the runway of the airport in Nova Gorica. The C_Two he drove was one of only five prototypes, Rimac said, and announced that he would invite journalists to test it in the coming weeks. Rimac C_Two will not be the official model name, though Rimac said it will be announced soon.

"The car is not finished yet, there is still room for improvement," he says.

Despite a poor start, Rimac C_Two overtook Porsche and was the first to cross the finish line.

"Of course, not everything is accelerating," said Rimac and announced significant progress in the car's performance in the next few weeks.

The Bugatti Chiron currently holds the record with 9.4 seconds for a quarter-mile, while Rimac was just under 9 seconds. 

Rimac C_Two is an electric hypercar presented in 2018 at the Geneva Motor Show. ‘A car brought together with technology', as some have called it, has seen a lot of hype in the automotive world.

According to Rimac, it reaches a speed of 415 kilometers per hour, develops a power of as much as 1914 horsepower, and reaches 100 in less than two seconds, so it is currently one of the cars with the highest acceleration in the world.

The C_Two is unlocked by the face recognition system, and in just half an hour it will charge 80 percent of the battery that drives it.

For the sake of humor, a fire extinguisher has been added to C_Two with the inscription "if driving uphill, put out the fire" as a reference to the famous Grand Tour crash when Richard Hammond was behind the wheel of Rimac's Concept One.

Rimac Automobili previously announced that they need about eight weeks to produce each prototype, which is twice as fast as the previous production process. In full operation, the factory will be able to produce up to four prototypes per month. This means that the entire batch of 150 should be produced in three years.

For more news about everything made in Croatia, be sure to follow TCN’s dedicated page.

April 25, 2021 - The president of the International Automobile Federation Jean Todt visits Rimac Automobili.

Sportske Novosti reports that the president of the International Automobile Federation, Jean Todt, arrived at the World Rally Championship Croatia Rally, which is being held in Croatia this weekend. The first man of the FIA, whose decision was crucial for Croatia's entry into the WRC calendar, shared his first impressions.

"Maybe we should ask people who have been involved in the organization and implementation of the rally from the beginning, but according to what I heard from the participants of the race, the impressions are good, and everyone is satisfied. In Croatia, we won a very demanding competition, an uncertain race that requires the creativity of the team and the driver. The weather is great, the fight on the track is open, and first impressions are good, but we need to wait for the end of the race for the final grade," Todt said.

"This season, some legendary rally races such as Greece and Kenya are returning to the WRC calendar, but Croatia, along with Estonia and a new race in Finland, further enriches the World Championship, and I think that this year we will enjoy an interesting season despite the problems brought on by the pandemic. Croatia has so far been known in the world as a tourist country, and from now on, it will be a country that hosts the WRC. It’s just a new step in the history of car racing and a good reminder of the first club founded 115 years ago."

Emphasizing the great efforts of the rally organizers and the Croatian Car and Karting Association, Todt also recalled the recently deceased Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić.

"I visited Croatia several times on the occasion of the WRC race, and Milan Bandić was one of the people who always supported the whole project. He put a lot of personal effort into making it happen in the end. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, and I think that in the end, this rally should be dedicated to him," said Todt, who on Saturday had the opportunity to visit the plants where Rimac cars are made and take a short test lap in one of his prototypes in Sveta Nedelja.

"I really appreciate people who can push the boundaries, and Mate Rimac is one of them. I was impressed by the acceleration achieved by his cars, but even more by the vision and passion behind everything he has done in just 10 years. It was necessary to have the guts to start developing an electric hypersport car when electric cars were just exotic. I was also introduced to his plans and future projects, and you have to respect and support such things."

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

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April 18, 2021 – Apart from the news about TCN's CEO Paul Bradbury being sued by the Croatian National Tourist Board, this week has been full of many other exciting yet inspiring news stories. Here are TCN's five biggest events in Croatia from April 12 to 18, 2021.

With the worsening epidemiological situation and tightening measures in four Croatian counties on Monday, the week didn't start very promising nor positive. However, a lot can happen in seven days, and we list five top news stories from Croatia.

Highlights of the week: Croatian National Tourist Board sues Paul Bradbury

Croatian media have been flooded this week with the news about the two lawsuits against TCN's CEO Paul Bradbury, submitted by the Croatian National Tourist Board because of Bradbury's criticisms of their work.

Source: Telegram.hr

Namely, CNTB filed two lawsuits against Bradbury, one for a Facebook joke he posted and the other for statements he said in an article on the Croatian portal Index. There was simply no stopping talking about these controversial lawsuits that appalled and disappointed the public this week. Read all the details about the first and second lawsuits in our articles.

Highlights of the week: Rimac Automobili presented a new incredible campus

On the list of people who promote Croatia in the best possible way, Mate Rimac takes one of the leading spots. His company Rimac Automobili never ceases to surprise with the novelties, such as the latest news about constructing the impressive new campus with numerous facilities.

Source: Rimac Automobili

See the impressive video and photos of the forthcoming Rimac campus that stunned the whole of Croatia this week.

Highlights of the week: Many fantastic flight news for Croatia

Although all travel is currently questionable due to the epidemiological situation, hope is still restored by numerous information about flights to and from Croatia published this week.

Thus, for example, Israeli El Al and Arkia flights to Croatia continue, as well as Austrian flights, Polish LOT, Finnair, and Eurowings.

Split airport by Romulić and Stojčić

And even though Croatia will have to wait a bit longer for introducing direct flights from the USA, from this week, the travelers can get from Sarajevo to Chicago by Eastern Airlines.

Highlights of the week: Croatia women's handball national team won HEP Croatia Cup

Croatian athletes do not stop surprising us positively from week to week!

After defeating the current world champions, the Netherlands, the Croatia women's senior national team also defeated the former world champions Brazil and won the HEP Croatia Cup in Poreč.

Source: Hrvatski rukometni savez

Highlights of the week: Klepetan returned to Malena again!

And to sweeten this week, the most famous Croatian love story got its happy follow-up. For the 19th consecutive year, the white stork Klepetan has returned from the south to the nest of his beloved Malena, continuing one of the most beautiful animal love stories in the world!

Spring may not have returned in the form we know, given that this week's temperatures in Croatia are more like autumn's, but it seems like the natural world is very much following its course.

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April the 17th, 2021 - The Rimac Campus project, which will work to further showcase what Croatia can offer to the automotive world through its most impressive entrepreneur, Mate Rimac, has taken another step towards fruition as the Sveta Nedelja Mayor, Dario Zurovec, signs on the dotted line.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the signing of the appropriate contract for the future Rimac Campus in Sveta Nedelja between CEO and founder Mate Rimac and Sveta Nedelja Mayor Dario Zurovec will start the wheels turning on a very significant cooperation.

With their signatures on the contract, the Rimac Campus project will officially be off the ground and firmly on track for 2023. Their new headquarters, with a capacity of 2,500 employees and at location only sixteen kilometres away from Zagreb, will cover 200,000 square metres of land in total.

The planned investments in the Rimac Campus project have been announced in the amount of more than 200 million euros - in the form of the construction on the new location which is expected by the end of the year, and its completion is planned for 2023, while on the other hand the size and ambitions of the new Rimac Campus project are so large that according to general estimates, it is set to be among the largest of its kind in all of Europe in terms of its various industries.

However, given the company’s rapid growth, the location is designed so that it can expand over time while still blending in with its natural environment. In the long run, the new location will, as stated, accommodate over 2,500 employees, which exceeds the current number of employees by more than 100 percent, and is therefore going to be divided into two different areas.

The first is the company's headquarters building, where the main functions, management and research and development centres will be located, as well as the offices of Greyp, a company for the production of electric bicycles, which was also founded by Mate Rimac.

For more on Mate Rimac and other Croatian entrepreneurs, make sure to follow Made in Croatia.

April the 15th, 2021 - The wildly successful Croatian businessman Mate Rimac is going from strength to strength, and he sat down with Bloomberg to discuss not only his plans going forward but his concerns.

As Novac/Bernard Ivezic writes, reports claim that Rimac Automobili is set to produce a maximum of 100 vehicles per year. After his company announced its highly detailed plans for a new campus, which will include the first car factory in Croatia, Croatian businessman Mate Rimac told Bloomberg that his focus in this segment will remain on small series vehicles.

Bloomberg writes that Rimac has stated that cars with his name on them will always be sold in small quantities - meaning less than 100 units of them per year - to avoid competing with manufacturers who are customers of his company.

It's worth noting that Rimac Automobili's core business isn't actually the production of electric vehicles, but the development and production of components for electric vehicles. The technology of this Croatian company is thus incorporated into the Aston Martin Valkyria and Koenigsegg Reger models.

In addition, Rimac Automobil's largest partner, Volkswagen, has been trying to consolidate Bugatti through this particular Croatian company for a long time. After Croatian businessman Mate Rimac rejected the possibility of transferring the majority ownership of Rimac Automobili to Volkswagen or Porsche, in exchange for Bugatti, the Germans presented a new plan.

Bloomberg recalls that back in March, Herbert Diess, the CEO of Volkswagen, proposed that Porsche enter into a joint venture with Rimac and thus take over Bugatti.

As such, Volkswagen, or Porsche, would de facto give up most of its ownership of Bugatti only if the well-known French manufacturer of internal combustion engines took over and modernised the most successful European manufacturer of technology for electric vehicles. Rimac Automobili thus found itself in a somewhat unenviable position, because Porsche is, after Rimac, individually the largest co-owner of Rimac Automobili and a company that raised its market valuation to the status of close to 1 billion US dollars.

Bloomberg also reports that, although Croatian businessman Mate Rimac has already stated once that he is not inclined to go public through the SPAC, he is still, at least theoretically, thinking about it.

''It wouldn't be a good feeling for me, that while everyone is collecting heaps of money in this way and may not have as many things to show for it, in the same way as we do, that we're left behind without capital, so of course we're still looking into this possibility,'' explained Mate Rimac.

SPAC is when company is created and has the obligation to take over another company and de facto sells the shares of that other company through itself. Rimac told Bloomberg that he has a high opinion of companies like Lucida or the company Rivian Automotive in which Amazon has invested, but also that he is suspicious of how much SPAC can be used by other startups for electromobility.

Late last year, Mate Rimac told the Financial Times (FT) that frequent use of SPACs could harm the long-term prospects of the industry in which it operates.

''The managers of such specialised companies (SPAC) don't bear the same responsibility for the potential growth prospects of the company as managers who raise money through an initial public offering (IPO) in stock markets do, which raises fears,'' said Mate Rimac. He explained that a lot of money can be obtained today for companies that don't have any product to speak of and that it scares him.

''When we list shares on the stock exchange, I want to show the numbers, I want the shares to be traded on the basis of facts,'' Rimac told the Financial Times at the time.

Now for Bloomberg, he pointed out that no other company in the field of electromobility can boast of making a profit for five years. Back in 2019, Rimac Automobili had revenues of €23 million and a profit of €1.4 million in total.

For 2020, Rimac Automobili pointed out that they have achieved strong growth and that they expect even stronger expansion this year. However, the result for 2020 has not been revised yet, so it hasn't been made public yet either.

For more on Croatian businessman Mate Rimac and other local entrepreneurs and their products, make sure to check out our dedicated section.