Porsche forms joint venture with Croatian hypercar group Rimac

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Porsche AG has announced plans to form a joint venture with Croatian hypercar firm Rimac Automobili that will include the transfer of luxury car brand Bugatti.

The venture, which will be called Bugatti-Rimac, is scheduled to be set up in the fourth quarter and will be based in the Croatian capital, Zagreb.

Rimac will take a 55% share in the new entity, with Porsche, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, owning the remaining 45%.

However, with Porsche increasing its stake in Rimac from 15% to 24% in March 2021, the company will effectively control 58.2% of the final company, though the carmaker has said it will not have a say in how the combined business will be run.

Read more: VW to phase out combustion engines in Europe by 2035

The deal is still subject to approval by antitrust authorities.

In March this year, Volkwagen CEO Herbert Diess said that Porsche was looking to form a partnership with Rimac that would involve Bugatti.

Under the umbrella of the new company, the Bugatti and Rimac brands will initially produce two hypercar models: the Bugatti Chiron and the all-electric Rimac Nevera. Bugatti Automobiles will continue to exist in the new joint venture. Bugatti models will still be produced at the Bugatti factory in Molsheim, France.

According to Porsche, when it is founded, the new combined company will employ around 430 people, with 300 based in the Zagreb headquarters and 130 at the Molsheim factory.

Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche, said: "We are combining Bugatti's strong expertise in the hypercar business with Rimac’s tremendous innovative strength in the highly promising field of electric mobility.

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"Bugatti is contributing a tradition-rich brand, iconic products, a loyal customer base and a global dealer organisation to the joint venture. In addition to technology, Rimac is providing new development and organisational approaches."

Earlier this week, Blume said that no money has changed hands as part of the deal.

Entering a joint venture with an electric specialist represents something of a departure for Bugatti, which has traditionally marketed its hypercars on 16-cylinder engines and guttural sounds.

However, with battery technology making rapid advancements, even the most sophisticated combustion engine would struggle to match the speeds of some electric hypercars. The upcoming Rimac Nevera is said to be the fastest model ever built. If this transpires to be true, the model will replace the Bugatti Chiron as the world's fastest car.

Read more: Bugatti Chiron Breaks Top Speed Record At 304 Mph

Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac, said: "Bugatti and Rimac are a perfect match for each other and both contribute important assets: we have established ourselves as an industry pioneer for electric technology, while Bugatti has more than a century of experience in the development of top-class cars and therefore brings with it an outstanding tradition that is practically unique in the history of the automotive industry.

"Together we will pool our knowledge, our technology and our assets with the goal of creating very special projects in the future," he added.

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