July 6 (SeeNews) - Croatian electric supercar maker Rimac Automobili said it will team with German carmaker Volkswagen in a 55:45 joint venture, Bugatti Rimac, as Rimac will take over the French automotive brand Bugatti.
“In just 10 years, Rimac Automobili has progressed from one-man garage start-up to announcing a new company with one of the world’s most iconic car brands to create Bugatti Rimac LLC,” Rimac said in a statement on its website released on late on Monday. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
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A newly set-up company, Rimac Group, will be majority shareholder in the joint venture with a 55% stake and Volkswagen's luxury sportscar unit Porsche will own the rest.
“We are combining Bugatti’s strong expertise in the hypercar business with Rimac’s tremendous innovative strength in the highly promising field of electromobility, “ Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said in the statement.
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 in other areas," the statement explained.
Mate Rimac, CEO of Rimac Group and founder of Rimac Automobili, will retain his original shareholding of Rimac Group at 37%, while Porsche will own 24% of it, Hyundai Motor Group 12% and other investors 27%.
“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,” Mate Rimac, said in the statement.
He will run both Bugatti Rimac and a new division, Rimac Technology, in charge of development, production and supply of battery systems, drivetrains and other EV components. Rimac Technology will be fully-owned by the Rimac Group and will remain an independent company working with many global car manufacturers.
Last month Rimac Automobili presented its hypercar model named Nevera, an new all-electric 1914hp car that can reach a speed of 258 mph and will sell at 2 million euro ($2.4 million).
“We have just launched our latest hypercar – the Nevera – to universal global acclaim. So I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am by the potential of these two incredible brands combining knowledge, technologies and values to create some truly special projects in the future,” Rimac said.
Porsche initially bought a 10% stake of Rimac Automobili in 2018, then boosted it 15.5% in 2019. In March this year, Porsche invested further 70 million euro in Rimac Automobili, raising its share in it to 24%. Hyundai Motor Group invested in Rimac in May 2019.
( $= 0.8428 euro)