New joint venture: Bugatti and Rimac merger completed
The headquarters of the joint venture of two European car manufacturers is located in Croatia. The head of the startup Rimac has been appointed as the head of the association.
In the fall of 2020, rumors appeared in the media that Volkswagen was preparing to sell the Bugatti brand (since 1998 it has been owned by VW). The problems with the constant tightening of environmental standards and the widespread transition to the development and production of “green” transport were named as reasons. The development of a new electric platform for the production of Bugatti supercars seemed unjustified and too wasteful to the German concern.
In the photo: Mate Rimac
Bugatti Automobiles and Rimac Automobili officially announced their merger last summer. The merger is now complete: today, November 2, the Bugatti Rimac joint venture, headquartered in Croatia, officially launched. According to current data, Volkswagen is not directly involved in the new merger: now 45% of the joint venture is owned by Porsche (part of VW), the remaining 55% is owned by the Croatian startup Rimac.
The new Bugatti Rimac joint venture is led by Mate Rimac. Bugatti changed the presidency and was replaced by Christophe Pichon (former Director of Operations and Logistics). He, along with Porsche boss Oliver Blume and CFO Lutz Meschke, are on the joint venture's board of directors. In turn, Stefan Winkelmann, who previously managed Bugatti, left his post and now only one project remains, always in charge of Lamborghini.
The Bugatti Engineering division in Wolfsburg will continue to operate in the near future with 180 employees. It remains under the control of the Volkswagen Group. It will be closed or repurposed in the future as Rimac will be responsible for developing new models for the Bugatti brand. The scientific and technical center Rimac Campus will open in 2023 (appear in Croatia). As a result, the French brand will be transferred to the production of electric vehicles.
At the time of construction, the Bugatti Rimac joint venture employs 435 people: 300 employees are “registered” in Zagreb, another 135 in Molsheim. The joint venture has promised to keep Bugatti's French production site: as long as they continue to produce the current Chiron in their factories.
The company informs that 460 cars have already been produced out of the expected circulation of the model (500 pieces). Another 40 copies will be on the Chiron Pur Sport and Chiron Super Sport versions. The French brand's current production schedule includes the production of Bugatti Bolide hypercars (based on the Chiron) in 2024.
Bugatti cars are literally pieces and collectibles. According to the Carsalesbase website, 19 vehicles were sold in Europe at the end of 2020, while in the 2019 dock, buyers bought 28 units. From January to August of this year, 17 supercars were sold in car dealerships. Recall that in the future, the so-called “everyday model” may appear in the brand's lineup, as was reported at the beginning of last year.
