Bugatti partnership with Rimac skyrockets hypercar future
From the brand-you’d-never-heard-of a decade ago, via Porsche, Hyundai and, now, VW-owned Bugatti shareholdings, Iain Robertson recognises that Croatian-born Rimac Automobili will soon become the brand of which you’ll-want-to-hear-more.
All of the world’s greatest innovators and entrepreneurs have always sworn by a simple, ever-challenging and oft-times impossible ethos: if it is unavailable, invent it. Naturally, such a statement rolls off the tongue with fluent ease and it is inferred frequently that hardship can be the mother of invention. War-torn Croatia, formed independently from the former Yugoslavia after a bloody four years’ battle by 1995, has rebuilt, restored and rehabilitated itself to full EU nation status in just 26 years.
Enthusiastic racer and keen engineer, Mate Rimac, was presented with his first major problem somewhat over a decade ago, when the engine of his aging BMW 3-Series blew-up during a race. He was 21. Rather than acquire a replacement, Mate elected to rebuild it, albeit with an electric drivetrain, which would form the seeding of his attention-grabbing enterprise that would revolutionise the automotive scene. He established his company only eleven years ago but the impact he made then and continues to make now is monumental; a trailblazer that cannot take ‘No!’ for an answer.
The business is located on the outskirts of Zagreb but it has engineering offices in Split and Osijek, as well as a joint venture in China, yet its aim is to create a solitary Croatian base, the immense Rimac Campus, that will become fully operational in 2023 and will serve all requirements of the business. Judging by the amount of attention Mate Rimac has been able to generate for his company, it employs a workforce of 850 people and its most recent announcement of a partnership with VW-owned Bugatti lifts its status onto another, even higher plane.
It is worth highlighting that Porsche, also VW-owned, has been a partner to Rimac since 2018, holding 24% of the shares (increased from 15% in March 2021), with Hyundai having a further 12% stake (£60m investment, with two performance EVs due imminently). It is by way of shares manipulation that the partnership with Bugatti is made possible but the benefits are abundant. Rimac Group is the majority shareholder, with 55% stake, with Porsche keeping the existing 24% shareholding in the Rimac Group and acquiring a 45% stake in the new company. The ongoing development, production and supply of battery systems, drivetrains and other EV components, for which Rimac is already renowned and trusted by numerous automotive manufacturers, will be separated into a new entity, to be called Rimac Technology, which will be 100%-owned by the Rimac Group, remaining an independent trading operation that collaborates with many global car manufacturers.
Mate Rimac leads the new company. As CEO of Rimac Group, he will run both Bugatti Rimac and the new division, Rimac Technology. However, 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 futures of both Bugatti and Rimac vehicles, by joining resources and expertise in research and development, production and other areas. Rimac Group will continue to innovate, creating both its own hypercars, as well as developing systems and technologies for global OEMs. Innovations will also be deployed in future Bugatti and Rimac models. Yet, both brands will continue to operate independently, with Rimac Automobili retaining its current premises on the outskirts of Zagreb and Bugatti production continuing in Molsheim, France.
The youthful synergy that exists in Croatia, along with its corporate flexibility are what prove to be the greatest attractions to old stagers like Porsche and the significantly older Bugatti, both of which hold enviable reputations in automotive engineering, albeit of a more conventional type. Porsche has already benefited from its relationship with Rimac, by way of the Taycan EV developments. However, Bugatti’s electrification progress, which is already reliant on Rimac, will commence in earnest imminently. The strategic partnerships are self-explanatory.
Yet, an inevitable question arises about how many hypercars can the world tolerate? Rimac has already launched its new Nevera model but it enters an electrified market sector that is fast becoming hectic and ultra-competitive. There exists only a finite number of multi-millionaires capable of spending seven-figure sums on their motoring needs, especially as they are also being tapped for eight-figure properties, nine-figure maritime adventures and ten-figure-plus aeronautical requirements. Factor in the ‘trophy wives’, international travel, jewellery, clothing and stupidly high-end entertainments, while fancy sportscars can amount to pocket-change in such a rarefied atmosphere, large volumes can scarcely be considered as a reality proposition.
Rimac’s route to survival is where ingenuity resides. Its portfolio of componentry that ranges from battery systems, e-axles, complete vehicle systems, advanced driver assistance (ADAS) developments and infotainment, connectivity and the latest ‘hot spud’, driver experience and interface projects, as well as torque vectoring, are all in demand. Whether Lotus Sportscars, under Chinese ownership, will ever be able to return to its Lotus Engineering status, with its powerful and confidential client base trusting in its developments, is now less likely, when a company like Rimac is hungry and as reactive as its clients need it to be. After all, there is only a finite requirement to fulfil in those areas.
If Rimac needs more resources, it does seem as though it needs simply to ask the question and its existing partners will be only too agreeable to provide people, knowledge and money. In some respects, while under the veil of Porsche and, now, Bugatti, it is Volkswagen Group that is playing the clever hand of cards, by securing the inventive genius and flexibility of Rimac to meet its peripheral needs, but Rimac has also secured its future with the largest carmaker in the world. Now, that’s smart, no matter how you look at it. Bugatti-Rimac draws together one of the youngest and oldest of automotive businesses in an exciting venture that has further reaching benefits, as the automotive scene transitions towards full-electrification.
