Volkswagen has sold Bugatti to Croatian electrical specialist Rimac. And now it gets complicated. Bugatti and Rimac operate together in the Bugatti Rimac joint venture, partly owned by Porsche and Rimac Group, but in which Hyundai also has a small finger in the pie.
Volkswagen wanted to get rid of Bugatti, that was no secret. The megalomaniac prestige project of former Volkswagen CEO Ferdinand Piëch was a struggle, according to current VW boss Herbert Diess. That is why there has been talks with Rimac about an acquisition since 2020. In July this year, Volkswagen announced that Bugatti and Rimac would merge into a joint venture. It has now been founded: Bugatti Rimac.
Bugatti and Rimac partly owned by Porsche
The company is 45 percent owned by Porsche and 55 percent by the new Rimac Group, in which – to make it nice and confusing – Porsche also has a share (22 percent). The rest of the shares are divided between founder Mate Rimac (37 percent), Hyundai (11 percent) and other investors (32 percent). Bugatti Rimac is based in Croatia, with Mate Rimac as director. Stephan Winkelmann is no longer at the helm of Bugatti and will focus on Lamborghini.
New Rimac Campus built in Zagreb
Bugatti and Rimac remain separate brands, with factories in France and Croatia. This will partly change from 2023. A new Rimac Campus is being built in Zagreb, which will employ about 2,500 people. Currently, there are roughly 300 employees at Rimac and about 135 at Bugatti. The brands will reinforce each other, is the idea behind the merger. Rimac benefits from Bugatti’s supercar expertise, which in turn gains access to electric drive technology.