Porsche sells its stake in Rimac and Bugatti: the silent reconfiguration of extreme luxury

The hypercar universe is moving again, and this is no minor shift. Porsche AG has sold its stake in Rimac Group —and, by extension, in the Bugatti-Rimac joint venture— closing a chapter of nearly a decade in which Bugatti orbited inside the Volkswagen Group. The deal redefines the balance at the very top of automotive luxury and leaves Mate Rimac in charge, without a German giant behind him for the first time since Porsche entered Rimac's cap table back in 2018.

To grasp the magnitude of the shift you need to go beyond the headline: this is not a simple financial sale, but a reorganisation of power inside one of the most exclusive segments of the industry. Bugatti represents history, extreme combustion engineering and craftsmanship; Rimac symbolises the electric future, technological innovation and unprecedented performance. Porsche's exit accelerates that bet on leading the hypercar transition into a new era — but it executes it without the financial and technical safety net that Wolfsburg used to provide.

From Volkswagen to Rimac: how we got here

For years, Bugatti sat under the umbrella of the Volkswagen Group, sharing technological DNA with Lamborghini, Audi and especially Porsche. But the industry's paradigm shift —electrification, software, new platforms— forced a structural rethink.

The decisive move came in 2021: VW pulled Bugatti out of the traditional org chart and merged it with Rimac Automobili, the Croatian company founded by Mate Rimac. Bugatti-Rimac was born, a joint venture designed to combine legacy and cutting edge under one roof:

• Rimac Group took operational control (55%).
• Porsche AG kept the rest (45%) —on top of its independent stake in Rimac Group itself.
• Bugatti contributed brand, history and the last W16; Rimac, the electric tech foundation.

It was a brilliant move at the time: Volkswagen reduced exposure to a niche-return brand and Mate Rimac took the wheel without losing German backing. Until now.

The sale: Porsche walks out, Mate Rimac consolidates

What has changed is significant: Porsche AG has sold its full stake in Rimac Group, the holding company that owns 55% of Bugatti-Rimac. By extension, Porsche's indirect link to Bugatti is also gone, on a brand that had been under German control since 1998.

The net result:

• Bugatti is outside the Volkswagen Group for the first time in 27 years.
• Mate Rimac and a group of strategic investors consolidate control of Rimac Group.
• The Bugatti-Rimac joint venture becomes, de facto, an independent company outside the German axis.

For Porsche, the decision is coherent: free up capital amid a tough restructuring year on the stock market and refocus resources on its own electric platforms. For Rimac, it's the chance to execute its vision without having to negotiate it with a board in Stuttgart.

What does this sale actually mean?

What looks at first glance like a corporate move has profound implications:

1. Real control for Mate Rimac

Rimac doesn't just build cars; it's arguably the best high-performance electric tech supplier in the world. With Porsche out, Rimac decides without filters on:

• High energy-density battery systems.
• Advanced 800 V electrical architectures.
• Factory-integrated high-performance software.
• The 5–10 year product roadmap for Bugatti.

Bugatti is now very likely to accelerate its transition towards plug-in hybrid or fully electric models.

2. The progressive end of the W16

The legendary W16 —Bugatti's symbol for decades— already had an expiry date with the Tourbillon, its naturally aspirated V16 hybrid successor. Porsche's exit reinforces three key ideas:

• The next Bugattis will be radically different from the Veyron and the Chiron.
• Electrification is no longer optional; it's inevitable and will only deepen.
• The sound of the W16 will belong in the museum, not in the catalogue.

3. Redefining automotive luxury

Luxury is no longer just raw power:

• It's technology.
• It's digital exclusivity.
• It's innovation you can see and feel.

Rimac understands this better than almost anyone in the sector, and can now execute on it without having to justify each move in Wolfsburg.

Bugatti + Rimac: a combination that redefines the hypercar

The synergy between both brands, now without Porsche in the middle, is probably the most interesting in today's market:

Bugatti	Rimac
Century-old history	Disruptive innovation
Extreme combustion engines	Electric propulsion
Handcrafted design	Digital engineering
Classic exclusivity	Technological future

The result is not a simple merger: it's a brand-new product category led from Croatia, badged as French and built in Molsheim.

What can we expect from now on?

Porsche's exit opens the door to several key scenarios:

Next-generation electric hypercars

We are not talking about "fast electric cars", but about:

• Absurd, almost inhuman acceleration figures.
• Extreme instant torque from zero rpm.
• New driving experiences impossible with combustion engines.

More software, less traditional mechanics

Value no longer sits only in the engine, but in:

• Smart energy management.
• Digital torque vectoring systems.
• Factory-integrated digital user experience.

Even more exclusive production runs

Fewer units, more personalisation, even higher prices. The hypercar stops being a product and becomes a collectible piece from day one.

More risk, too

Without Volkswagen's financial safety net behind it, Bugatti-Rimac depends on its own cash flow and on the investors backing Mate Rimac. Strategic freedom comes with the pressure of having to prove the model works without a €300 billion balance sheet behind it.

Market impact: not an isolated case

This move reflects something bigger that is shaking the entire high-performance industry:

• Ferrari electrifying its lineup with the SF90, 296 GTB and new hybrid platforms.
• Lamborghini entering plug-in hybrids with the Revuelto.
• McLaren betting on new modular platforms with hybrid architecture.
• Porsche reallocating capital out of Rimac to double down on its own electric path.

Bugatti-Rimac is not following the trend: it's leading it, and now it's doing so on its own.

Conclusion: the end of one era, the start of another

Porsche's sale is not just a change of shareholders; it's the definitive closure of the Volkswagen chapter for Bugatti and the start of an era dominated by electrification, software and Rimac's operational independence.

For purists, it may feel like the end of something irreplaceable.
For the future of the automobile, it's exactly what had to happen.

And if one thing is clear: the next Bugattis won't simply be cars… they'll be technological statements signed off by Mate Rimac.

At Gredos Motor we will keep telling this story from the inside: the W16 and the Veyron will have their place in the museum, the electric hypercars of the next decade will run up the Tietar Valley Festival of Speed hillclimb, and in between we will keep publishing analysis like this one. If you're into the history and future of extreme motoring, take a look at our blog or join the Gredos Motor Club to live it first-hand.