“Volkswagen’s (VWAGY) French sports car brand Bugatti will go electric after Tesla (TSLA) launched its quickest car ever and as an electric Ferrari (RACE) supercar looms. Volkswagen stock fell.
Croatian electric-car maker Rimac on Monday announced its takeover of Bugatti from Volkswagen. Rimac will own a majority 55% stake in the 110-year-old French supercar brand. Porsche, a part of Volkswagen Group, will own the rest.
Post merger, the new company will be called Bugatti Rimac.
Bugatti will have an all-electric model this decade and will sell a hybrid model until then, Rimac told reporters.
Croatia’s Rimac Automobili, an EV startup known for all-electric hypercars, began 10 years ago as a one-man garage startup. Its new 1,900 hp Nevera touts a top speed of 258 mph and sells for several million dollars apiece.
Volkswagen bought Bugatti for $50 million in July 1998, after acquiring other luxury brands such as Lamborghini. It has owned all of Porsche since 2012.
On June 11, Tesla launched a supercar version of its Model S called the Plaid. CEO Elon Musk said the Model S Plaid is “faster than any Porsche” and called it “the fastest accelerating car ever.” The sports sedan goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in under 2 seconds.
Earlier in April, Ferrari announced its first electric supercar will arrive in 2025. For decades, Ferrari rejected the idea of a fully electric supercar and the late former CEO Sergio Marchionne notably declared a Ferrari EV an “almost obscene concept.”….
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