Mate Rimac (pr: Mah-Tay Ree-Mats), founder of the electric hypercar company bearing his name, has worked with Porsche to orchestrate a merger between Rimac and Bugatti, a company overseen by Porsche under the Volkswagen Group. A stunning turn of events, the 33-year-old executive is likely to bring a breath of fresh air to Bugatti, and possibly even Porsche, while continuing to offer outstanding vehicles from Rimac.
The Rimac Nevera electric hypercar was tested by a small group of media in June, and found to be an exquisite vehicle. Offering an amazing 400-mile range and enviable performance all wrapped in a stunning package of exotic materials with a luxurious interior, it’s absolutely on par with the likes of Bugatti, Pagani, and Koenigsegg to name a few. While developing his own hypercar company, he has built a multi-billion-dollar business supplying his electric propulsion technology to about 15 car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Koenigsegg. Porsche and Hyundai are also clients, and investors. Interestingly, this business has kept him busy enough that launching the Nevera has been pressed to the back burner on a number of occasions.
The Bugatti-Rimac merger is fabulously perfect. Volkswagen Group no longer wants to spend too much money on the Bugatti program, having lost roughly $5 million on every Veyron sold after investing about $2.4 billion into the company. To develop the Chiron, it’s estimated that the company spent around $420 million and to electrify the car, it’s expected to cost just as much. Rimac has offered to develop an all-new Chiron for about $240 million. Instead of financing it, Volkswagen proposed a merger, whereby 55 percent of the new Bugatti-Rimac company will be owned by the Rimac Group with Porsche owning 45 percent on behalf of the Volkswagen Group. Designed and built separately, in France and Croatia, the entire output of the company will be roughly 20 percent of the Rimac Group’s total output, which is hugely spun around Rimac Technology, a company wholly owned by Rimac Group and responsible for developing various items for electric vehicles. Learn more here.
