Porsche and Croatian electric performance carmaker Rimac have agreed to form a joint venture involving Volkswagen’s high-performance Bugatti brand, officials announced Monday.
The new joint venture – called Bugatti-Rimac – is expected to be established in the fourth quarter of this year as a hypercar maker (high-end sports car or supercar but better performing and more specific). Rimac will hold a 55% stake in the joint venture, while Porsche will have a 45% stake in the company. Bugatti’s shares will be transferred from Volkswagen, which owns Porsche and Bugatti, to Porsche and then to Rimac, the companies said. Porsche currently holds a 24% stake in Rimac, up from an initial 10% ownership in 2018.
The first vehicles planned from the tie-up are an eight-cylinder, 1,500-horsepower Bugatti called the Chiron and a $2.4 million all-electric hypercar called the Rimac Never, which the company says has about 1,900 horsepower and 250 mph. may exceed an hour. The vehicles were earlier announced by the companies separately.