Volkswagen Transfers Bugatti Management to 33-Year-Old Croatian-Born Engineer

Croatia Rimac and Porsche Joint Venture Acquires Bugatti

Mate Rimac, a Croatian-born engineer who took over the management of Bugatti
Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Volkswagen is transferring the management rights of the luxury car brand Bugatti to Mate Rimac, a young electric vehicle engineer born in Croatia. Mate Rimac, a young engineer aged 33 this year, founded the luxury electric vehicle company Rimac Automobili in 2009. Rimac Automobili is a notable electric vehicle company that Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have also invested in.

Rimac Automobili and Porsche, a Volkswagen subsidiary, have established a new joint venture called Bugatti-Rimac, and Mate Rimac will serve as the CEO of the new Bugatti-Rimac. It is analyzed that Volkswagen, which aims to stop producing internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035, handed over Bugatti’s management rights to focus more on electric vehicle investments.

According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 5th (local time), Volkswagen plans to transfer Bugatti’s management rights to the joint venture led by Rimac. Even after transferring management rights, Volkswagen will maintain a close relationship with Bugatti through its subsidiary Porsche.

The newly established joint venture Bugatti-Rimac will have Rimac holding 55% of the shares and Porsche holding 45%. Rimac has maintained a long-term cooperative relationship with Volkswagen. Earlier, Porsche increased its stake in Rimac from 15% to 24% by investing 70 million euros in March. This was a preparatory step before entrusting Bugatti’s management to Rimac. As a result, Porsche will hold 52.8% of the shares in the joint venture Bugatti-Rimac, including indirect shares held through Rimac.

Mate Rimac, the CEO, currently holds a 37% stake in Rimac. His share in the new joint venture Bugatti-Rimac will be 20.4%.

Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche, stated that there is no monetary transaction involved in this share deal. Only the management rights will be transferred to the newly established joint venture Bugatti-Rimac.

The Volkswagen Group is recently focusing on brands such as Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche, concentrating on transitioning to an electric vehicle company. It appears that Bugatti was judged not to fit this transition to electric vehicles. Bugatti is famous for its vehicles boasting powerful performance based on a 16-cylinder engine. Volkswagen is stepping away from Bugatti management after about 20 years since acquiring it in 1998.

Bugatti Chiron [Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

Volkswagen has not separately disclosed Bugatti’s sales performance so far, but the annual sales volume is known to be about 80 units. Last year, Bugatti attracted attention when Cristiano Ronaldo of the Italian football club Juventus purchased one.

CEO Blume explained that Bugatti has produced positive results in recent years and that the joint venture with Rimac will bring very good profitability.

Bugatti-Rimac is expected to be established in the fourth quarter. The headquarters will likely be located in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Bugatti will still be produced in France, with only the technology research division moving to the new headquarters in Zagreb.

The Bugatti-Rimac joint venture is expected to initially produce the Bugatti Chiron and Rimac’s pure electric vehicle Rimac Nevera. Mate Rimac is a young engineer gaining attention for innovative technology and design suitable for the luxury electric vehicle era. In 2011, he introduced the first electric supercar, the Concept_One. The Rimac Nevera, released in 2018, was selected by many automotive magazines as the best car in the luxury electric vehicle category.

Mate Rimac plans to fully convert Bugatti to electric vehicles in the mid-to-long term but intends to produce hybrid models using internal combustion engines for a while. He also has plans for Bugatti-Rimac’s public listing but does not intend to rush it.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.