Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac details tracking down his stolen Chiron
The man responsible for Bugatti unexpectedly had his Chiron stolen after leaving the keys inside it, with the thief crossing from Croatia to Austria before it was recovered.
Mate Rimac may be perceived as one of the brightest minds in the automotive industry, having founded his own electric hypercar company Rimac before taking control of Bugatti.
But the Croatian’s trust of his home country nearly cost him his Bugatti Chiron, after a thief stole the hypercar and took it on a joyride, only to eventually be caught and charged.
Reports of the theft circulated earlier this week, leading Rimac to post on social media explaining the ordeal – from how it happened to its conclusion.
“There's this crazy story about my Chiron being stolen, blowing up in the media, and now everyone is calling me, ‘Is it true? Is it true? Is it true?’” Rimac said.
“And believe it or not, yes, the car was stolen yesterday. Obviously, I got it back. And here's the story.
“So we are in Croatia, which is super, super safe, and this will sound very strange, especially for people living in US or somewhere else, but I'm so proud of Croatia being so safe that I'm very relaxed – meaning also I always leave my keys inside my cars, including the Chiron, and [Rimac] Nevera, and many other cars.
“I do that for years. And nothing ever happened – of course, until something did happen now. So I will not do that anymore, and don't try your luck. It will not happen again.”
The Chiron itself is used by Rimac as his daily driver but is also left unlocked with the keys easily accessible for his team of engineers to take it to test parts, without needing to find Mate.
According to Rimac, the car was parked in an open section of the carmaker’s campus when the thief walked in and took it, something which they were alerted to after the fact.
Thanks to the onboard telemetry system in the Chiron, Rimac was able to access its location as well as see its speed and fuel level, with the car detected as heading towards Slovenia.
In the meantime, Rimac hopped into his Porsche 911 in hot pursuit, despite the Chiron getting a one-hour head-start.
“I was hoping that he would get caught before getting into the next country so that the border crossing would be closed, but he made it to Austria,” Rimac added.
“I tried to catch him, and as he was running out of fuel, we were hoping that he would be caught at the gas station, but he continued. I guess he didn't pay the fuel – he just filled up half the fuel and continued onwards..
“Eventually Austrian police [caught him]. Fantastic job. One of the officers was in our group chat, he had an update of the location all the time and they caught him.”
With the Bugatti Chiron recovered, Rimac learnt of the offender’s “problematic past”, and thought about offering to take him home without charge, though due to the high value of the car and the extensive pursuit of it, the thief wasn’t let off.
“Of course, I won't press charges, but unfortunately, because he committed a crime of [stealing a car] with such a high value [...] he will be prosecuted by the Croatian and the Austrian police. So I hope this guy will do fine.”
The Chiron too wasn’t able to be simply taken away by its owner, with Rimac having to prove his ownership of it, eventually getting it back.
Ironically, the car thief said he had come to Rimac’s campus to try and apply for a job – a prospect which is far more unlikely after the incident.
Jordan Mulach
It’s been a busy period for Mate Rimac, after the Volkswagen Group relinquished any control in Bugatti earlier this year.
In April, Porsche announced it was selling its 45 per cent stake in Bugatti-Rimac (the joint venture between the two brands) to a consortium led by New York-based HOF Capital, while it also sold its 20.6 per cent stake in the Rimac Group, held since the 2021 announcement.
Bugatti-Rimac is under the control of the Rimac Group, though HOF Capital is the Rimac Group’s largest shareholder, alongside Mate Rimac.
Bugatti has been slowly winding down production of its W16-powered hypercars such as the Chiron and is and preparing to launch the Tourbillon, powered by a V16 and plug-in hybrid system.
