Bugatti and Rimac officially merge

Mate Rimac, CEO of Croatian electric supercar maker Rimac, is only 33 years old, but he has just taken control of Bugatti, a century-old prestige automobile brand that sells cars for millions of dollars. Indeed, times are changing! Say hello to Bugatti-Rimac, the largest merger in the supercar industry.

We have been hearing about a possible partnership between Bugatti and Rimac. Already, last March, we learned that Bugatti would come under the control of Porsche, which held 24% of the Croatian manufacturer’s shares.

However, we did not expect a full merger like the one just announced. This would come from the fact that Porsche would have asked Rimac to design a hybrid system for the Chiron. Rimac then responded by offering Porsche to build an entirely new hybrid supercar at a lower price. What Porsche would then have proposed the merger with Bugatti.

If it weren’t for this merger, Bugatti would probably not have survived the transition to electric, as the Volkswagen group had not planned any investment to transform it.

So we end up with a company that will produce Bugattis and Rimacs in parallel, but we will have to wait until 2030 before we see an electric Bugatti. Bugatti-Rimac certifies that the two brands will however remain independent, even if they will operate in tandem. Rimac therefore holds 55% of the shares of the new entity, while Porsche maintains the remaining 45%.

Although Rimac is young, his technical know-how does not go unnoticed in the world of supercar. Its first vehicle, the Concept_One, introduced in 2013, was an electric superbomb capable of leaping from 0 to 100 km / hour under 3 seconds and reaching a top speed of 340 km / hour.

And the Nevara, its latest model, is one of the fastest production cars in the world with a 0-100 km / hour sprint in 1.9 seconds and a top speed of 412 km / hour. Even the very exclusive Bugatti Chiron does not come close to its ankle with its archaic thermal engine.

This merger with the young Croatian manufacturer will only bring good things to it and allow Bugatti to evolve in the right direction. Porsche will also be able to benefit from its electric technologies in the future.