Rimac Will Acquire Bugatti: Report

Rimac, the Croatian electric supercar maker, is in the process of acquiring Bugatti from Volkswagen, according to a couple of reports this morning. This is apparently because Volkswagen is tired of spending boatloads of money on Ferdinand Piëch hobbyhorses.

This is also apparently so that Porsche can get in on Rimac.

Here's Car:

In an ideal world, Porsche would swap the [Bugatti] lock, stock and barrel for a bigger share of the Rimac action. How big? The target is 49 per cent, which could be a tough nut to crack, but the Germans are keen on accessing as much know-how and brain power as they possibly can.

In exchange, the [Mate Rimac] would obtain the Bugatti brand and the related infrastructure which looks like the perfect stepping stone for that tiny-volume C-Two hypercar. In July, Rimac paid a visit to Bugatti in Molsheim – and reportedly walked away impressed...

If the supervisory board signs off the agreement, the current Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann is unlikely to stay. When asked for comment, neither Winkelmann nor the Porsche boss Oliver Blume replied. We also approached Bugatti's communications department for comment; a spokesperson declined to comment on the rumours, but said that the brand had been 'a positive contribution to the Group for the past two years' and that the brand was 'on track to exceed 2019's sales.'

Car also reports that a number of VW brands could possibly be offloaded or at least are under some measure of scrutiny, including Lamborghini, SEAT, Bentley, and Ducati, in an effort to centralize VW's focus on all things electric and autonomous.

As for Rimac, it remains the Tesla of Europe, if Tesla only had 600 employees and only made supercars. Which isn't to insult Rimac so much as to say Rimac has earned a lot of admirers from other automakers. It'll be interesting to see what it will do with Bugatti if and when this is all finalized.