Monday 5 July 2021
Porsche and Rimac took over
VW Group to sell Bugatti luxury brand
Volkswagen is partnering with its iconic brand Bugatti. In the future, it will be in the hands of sports car maker Porsche and Croatian carmaker Rimac. Together they want to make Bugatti electric.
Luxury sports car brand Bugatti is leaving the Volkswagen Group after more than two decades. Porsche said VW subsidiary Porsche and Croatian electric sports car specialist Rimac have signed a contract for a joint venture called Bugatti-Rimac. Rimac will hold 55 per cent and Porsche will hold 45 per cent. It should start in the fourth quarter. VW is transferring its Bugatti ownership to Porsche. Antitrust authorities in many countries have yet to approve the deal.
Porsche boss Oliver Bloom said: “We are combining Bugatti’s strong expertise in the hypercar business with Rimac’s great innovative strength in the promising area of electromobility.” Future owner Mate Rimack, founder and owner of the new majority-owner of the same name, announced that he wanted to make the exclusive carmaker financially successful and profitable. In a virtual press conference from Dubrovnik, he did not rule out the IPO of his company, which he founded in a garage in 2009.
VW boss Herbert Diess announced plans for a joint venture with Rimake in March. The Stuttgart carmaker explained, Porsche wants to play a stronger role as a strategic partner. He partnered with Rimac three years ago and now owns 24 percent of the company.
Bugatti-Rimaq is said to have 430 employees – 300 at the Rimac headquarters in Zagreb and 130 at the Bugatti factory in Molsheim, France. The first models are said to be the Bugatti Chiron with a combustion engine and the all-electric Rimac Navarra.
