For the first time in almost three decades, Bugatti will soon have no links to the Volkswagen Group, with Porsche confirming it’s selling its minority stake in the French hypercar brand.
The modern iteration of Bugatti was founded by Volkswagen in 1998 and soon launched itself into the headlines with the quad-turbo W16 Veyron hypercar of the mid-2000s, beginning a lineage of record-setting models.
In 2021, it was announced that Bugatti would form one half of a joint venture with Croatian electric hypercar specialist Rimac, with the Bugatti-Rimac company featuring majority control by Rimac (55 per cent) while Porsche would handle the remaining 45 per cent.
Over the weekend, Porsche announced it is selling its 45 per cent stake in Bugatti-Rimac to a consortium led by New York-based HOF Capital. Porsche will also sell its 20.6 per cent stake in the Rimac Group, held since the 2021 announcement.
“In setting up the joint venture Bugatti-Rimac together with Rimac Group, we successfully laid the foundation for Bugatti’s future,” Porsche CEO Dr Michael Leiters said in a media release.
“And as an early-stage investor of Rimac Group, Porsche made a significant contribution to developing Rimac Technology into an established Tier-1 automotive technology company.
“Now, with the sale of our stake, we demonstrate, that we will focus Porsche on the core business. We would like to thank Mate Rimac and his team for the constructive and trusting cooperation over the past years.”
Last year it was reported the cancellation or delay of Porsche’s future EV plans would cost its Volkswagen Group parent €5.1 billion ($9.1 billion), while the Stuttgart brand projected its operating profit will drop by €1.8 billion ($3.2 billion) in the 2025 financial year.
Bugatti-Rimac will come under the control of the Rimac Group, though HOF Capital will become the Rimac Group’s largest shareholder, alongside Mate Rimac, founder of his namesake brand and the CEO of Bugatti-Rimac.
“Porsche has been a crucial partner, and we are deeply grateful for their role in establishing Bugatti-Rimac,” said Mate Rimac.
“With the strong foundations their support has provided, we now have a structure that allows us to execute even faster on our long-term vision. We look forward to our collaboration with our new partners.”
While the financial details of the transaction haven’t been reported, last year Automotive News reported Rimac made a preliminary offer on Porsche’s 45 per cent stake in Bugatti-Rimac, a share which was valued at approximately €1 billion (A$1.64 billion).
It comes amid a busy time for Bugatti, which is slowly winding down production of its W16-powered hypercars and preparing to launch the Tourbillon, powered by a V16 and plug-in hybrid system.
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