Porsche has further strengthened its strategic partnership with Rimac by investing another €70 million (~$83 million) in the Croatian company.
As a result, they now own 24 percent of Rimac, up from 15 percent, without exercising a controlling influence. Moreover, they have also placed their first orders “for the development of highly innovative series components”, according to Porsche board member Lutz Meschke.
“Our investment in Rimac has turned out to be absolutely right”, Meschke added. “The value has increased many times over our initial investment. The company has developed very well technologically. We are expanding our cooperation step by step and are also benefiting from Rimac’s strength in innovation.”
See Also: Rimac’s 1,914 HP C_Two Electric Hypercar Enters Final Wind Tunnel Tests
“We’re proud to work together on exciting new electrified products”, said Mate Rimac, who founded the eponymous company in 2009 at the age of 21. “With many car manufacturers across the world being Rimac customers, it is important, both for Rimac and Porsche, that we remain an entirely independent business. The partnership with Porsche helps the company develop and grow, which is beneficial for all of our customers.”
With Porsche now officially owning nearly a quarter of Rimac, it is possible that the Volkswagen Group could go ahead and greenlight the tie-up between Bugatti and the small automaker based in Sveta Nedelja, near Zagreb.
Previous reports claimed that the German group, which owns both Porsche and Bugatti, might handover the reins of the Molsheim hypercar maker to Rimac in exchange for Porsche taking a larger stake in the Croatian EV-maker. This would help Bugatti become future-proof in the wake of the electric revolution, as their only engine right now is the quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16 and Rimac is in the business of making high-end electric super sports cars with up to 2,000 HP.
