Bugatti-Rimac merger confirmed, legendary French brand to be electrified

Bugatti and electric vehicle specialist Rimac have confirmed plans to merge under the name Bugatti-Rimac, with the deal set to be finalised in the fourth quarter of this year (October to December inclusive).

Porsche – which is a fellow Volkswagen subsidiary alongside Bugatti, and currently owns a 24 per cent stake in Rimac – administered the arrangement.

Rimac will hold the controlling stake in the newly-formed company with 55 per cent ownership, while Porsche will hold a 45 per cent share.

The venture will be based out of Bugatti’s existing headquarters in Molsheim, France.

Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili, said: “This is a truly exciting moment in the short, yet rapidly expanding history of Rimac Automobili and this new venture takes things to a completely new level.

“I have always loved cars and can see at Bugatti where passion for cars can take you. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am by the potential of these two brands combining knowledge, technologies and values to create some truly special projects in the future.”

The move comes as Bugatti – which, under Volkswagen ownership, has exclusively used a quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 petrol engine to power its cars – looks to comply with ever-tightening emission regulations.

It’s expected at least some the brand’s next generation of hypercars will be share components with the new Rimac Nevera, which mates four electric motors for a total output of 1427kW/2360Nm – though don’t expect a simple rebadge, nor the axing of combustion engines entirely.

“What some people expect might happen is that we take a Nevera and slam a Bugatti logo on it and call it a Bugatti. That’s absolutely not going to happen. That’s not what we’re going to do. I’m a car guy, and while of course we want to make a profitable company, we will not just recycle what we have,” Mate Rimac told media including Autocar.