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PORSCHE, Bugatti and Rimac have officially formed a joint venture company called Bugatti Rimac that is ready to become a pioneer in the electric hypercar market.
Bugatti Rimac will be headquartered in Sveta Nedelja, Croatia, and has now announced the composition of its board of directors, consisting of Mate Rimac–founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili–as its CEO, Porsche Chairman of the Board of Directors Oliver Blame with Lutz Meschke sitting on the supervisory board.
Within the framework of the cooperation, Bugatti and Rimac Automobili will continue to operate as independent brands and manufacturers, and will maintain their respective production sites in Zagreb (Croatia) and Molsheim (France), as well as their distribution network. Bugatti Rimac will be owned by Rimac Group (55%) and Porsche AG (45%).
According to the current CEO of Bugatti, Stephan Winkelmann, will step down from his position on October 31, 2021 to focus on his role as president of Lamborghini.
“This merger is the perfect solution for everyone involved. Together, we form a strong automotive company,” said Oliver Blume.
In addition to Mate Rimac, the new management team includes Christophe Piochon, former production manager and joint managing director of Bugatti Automobiles. Piochon will be the Chief Operating Officer of the joint venture.
Production will continue at the long-established location in Molsheim, Alsace, world renowned for its excellence and excellence in design and craftsmanship.
Larissa Fleischer will be the Chief Financial Officer. He is director of control at Porsche for digitization and development of new business models. Emilio Scervo, previously chief engineer at McLaren, will take over as Chief Technology Officer.
Internally at Porsche, the combined effort was referred to as Operation Rush. “As the name implies, everything goes really fast,” explains Meschke. Porsche became a stakeholder in Rimac in 2018 and has continued to increase its involvement since then.
The launch of the Bugatti Rimac joint venture is another big step for future CEO Mate Rimac–only twelve years after his start-up was founded in a garage. “It is difficult to find a better partner than Rimac and Bugatti. Rimac’s fast operation and electrification skills are the perfect complement to Bugatti’s outstanding heritage and craftsmanship. Look forward to some truly amazing projects in the future,” said Mate Rimac.
Bugatti Rimac’s central facility in Sveta Nedelja is being built at a cost of 200 million euros, and is planned for completion in 2023. It will also host an R&D facility with Bugatti Rimac. 2,500 people will work on the 200,000-square-meter site. At the same time, all Bugatti models will continue to be produced at the factory in Molsheim.
The Bugatti Rimac joint venture will start with approximately 435 employees; about 300 are based in Zagreb and about 135 in Molsheim. This positioning serves to maintain and build on the attractive strengths of the Bugatti and Rimac brands. [antaranews]
