Speaking to Automotive News, Rimac – who is just 37 years old but is in control of his namesake brand as well as Bugatti – said it’s his intention to buy Porsche out of its 45 per cent stake in the Bugatti-Rimac joint venture.
“It’s no secret that we are in discussions,” Rimac told Automotive News.
“I just want to be able to make long-term decisions, to make long-term investments and to do things in a different way, without having to explain to 50 people.
“When you negotiate with a corporation, there are so many factors. It’s families, it’s multiple families. It’s an emotional topic.”
The joint venture was announced in 2021, with Rimac owning 55 per cent of the dual-brand entity, which is based in Croatia but Bugatti production has continued to take place in France.
It allowed the two hypercar and hyper-expensive brands to better lean on each other, though Bugatti’s latest model – the Tourbillon – didn’t follow expectations by adopting electric power, instead remaining with petrol power only.
Likewise, Rimac’s range of hypercars have stayed as EVs, and there’s no plans for the brand to change course.
According to Automotive News, Rimac made a preliminary offer on Porsche’s 45 per cent stake in Bugatti-Rimac earlier this year, a share which was valued at approximately €1 billion (A$1.8 billion).
However, Porsche is controlled by the Porsche-Piëch family who has a stake in the brand, and it has also recently suffered financial setbacks due to lower than expected demand for EVs, coupled with a downturn in sales in China and the US.
Rimac says he is working toward a deal to buy out Porsche’s stand in the joint venture by 2026, which would effectively remove the Volkswagen Group from Bugatti’s ownership structure for the first time since 1998 when the modern version of the brand was founded.
Discussion about this post