Rimac takes over Bugatti, hints at electrification of legendary supercar brand

Rimac and Porsche announced a deal today that results in Bugatti now being under the control of a new “Rimac Group” led by Mate Rimac, the young engineer behind the famous electric hypercar.

The move hints at the electrification of the legendary Bugatti brand.

As we previously reported, Rimac is best known for its all-electric hypercars, especially the Concept_One, arguably the first all-electric hypercar, and more recently, the new Concept_Two (C_Two) now Nevera.

But in recent years, the company has also been emerging as a supplier for electric vehicle components. They’ve already got a thriving business supplying some OEMs, like Koenigsegg and Aston Martin.

Since Porsche has started investing in the electric automaker, it looked like Rimac was preparing to take a bigger role as an electric leader.

It was even rumored to be buying Bugatti, and now the deal has finally been confirmed.

Rimac Automobili is splitting off into two companies: Rimac Automobili and Rimac Technology.

They are both going to be under the Rimac group, which is now also going to control Bugatti.

Here’s the new structure of ownership:

Rimac Automobili will keep developing and selling its electric hypercars while Rimac technology will focus on supplying other companies with its EV technology.

Porsche retains ownership control over Bugatti since it holds a 45% stake in the new Bugatti/Rimac company and it owns 24% of the Rimac Group’s 55% stake in the new automaker.

But in terms of operations, Mate manages to retain control and ownership over the new Rimac group:

Mate Rimac will lead the new company. As CEO of Rimac Group, he will run both Bugatti Rimac and the new division, Rimac Technology. 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.

The 33-year-old Bosnian-Croatian entrepreneur commented on today’s announcement:

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. With the Nevera, we have also proven that we can develop and manufacture outstanding hypercars, that are not only fast but also exciting and high-quality. Bugatti, with over a century of experience in engineering excellence, also possesses one of the most exceptional heritage of any car company in history.

The announcement hints at Bugatti finally getting into electrification with this move, but it doesn’t include any details.

Electrek’s Take

This is great news.

While he has certainly approached the market from the higher end, Mate is an interesting young leader in electrification, and now he has a lot more resources and a powerful brand behind him to help achieve his vision.

It’s also impressive that even with large investments from Porsche and now the Bugatti brand coming on board, the young engineer still manages to retain a 37% ownership in his company.

That’s reminiscent of Elon Musk with Tesla.