Mate Rimac is one of the youngest automotive executives in the industry and while he will soon become the head of the Bugatti-Rimac joint venture, he has no intention of playing things safe.
Through the complex deal made with the Volkswagen Group, Rimac will join with Porsche and take a 55 per cent stake in a joint venture with Bugatti, while Porsche will own the remaining 45 per cent. Porsche also currently owns a 24 per cent stake in Rimac. Mate Rimac will helm the joint venture while Porsche’s Oliver Blume and Lutz Meschke will join a supervisory board.
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At just 33, Mate Rimac will be the youngest person to run a company formerly part of the VW Group and despite the pressure, the Croatian has big plans.
“The stakes are getting bigger,” Rimac said in a recent interview with Reuters. “But I am not somebody to play it safe. Never. Not even close. So if there is going to be some friction with our shareholders and more experienced people that come into the company, it’s going to be that.”
“It feels really interesting when you think where we came from — this country has never had an automotive industry,” he added. “We had absolutely no idea what we were doing. And now our tech is in so many cars, and with Bugatti this whole thing is a huge responsibility.”
Expanding on this during an interview with Motor Trend, Mate Rimac explained what the future of Bugatti will look like under his leadership. Eventually there will be a successor to the Chiron, and he also wants to return Bugatti to its roots with a host of different models, all complete with electrified powertrains.
“With this brand, you can do so much. Maybe an SUV or long hood coupe or something absolutely insane that no one thinks about.”
