Mate Rimac, who will become CEO of Bugatti Rimac, has a fascinating story behind him. His company, the Rimac Group, will own 55% of Bugatti Rimac as well as a hundred percent of a new, separate business called Rimac Technology, which will continue to develop high-performance EV powertrains for other car makers. It is reportedly already working with at least ten major manufacturers, including Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin.

Mate has also hinted at taking the Rimac Group public in 2022, which could make him personally around $2 billion as the company's largest shareholder. So, if you're trying to predict who the next Elon Musk is, this guy has to be in pole position. He already announced the Bugatti Rimac merger dressed in shorts and running shoes, which seems somewhat Musk-y to me.

I'm guessing he starts a space company in like two years, three years, tops... definitely some sort of exploratory group. If you're wondering what all this financial dealing means in terms of actual cars, you're a patient person. And I will tell you. Bugatti and Rimac will continue to develop and badge cars separately. Rimac branded cars will be built in Croatia, while Bugattis will still be assembled in Molsheim.

But both brands will use the powertrains developed and manufactured by Rimac Technology in Croatia. Unfortunately, for fans of Bugatti's current speed machines, the days of the 16-cylinder engine are numbered. But a 2000 horsepower hybrid hypercar and a full EV Bugatti are both due for release by 2030.

Mate Rimac says he's also considering future Bugattis with more than two doors and potentially even some more affordable, less powerful cars built at higher production volumes, but in Bugatti terms, that means like still hundreds of thousands of dollars. If any of that actually comes to pass, it would be a pretty huge change for a brand that has spent over a hundred years selling some of the fastest and most expensive cars ever built.

But in the words of Mate Rimac, quote, "Bugatti's fourth chapter starts now, and with Porsche at our backs, I believe we can do incredible things." You see what I did there? The craziest thing about this deal isn't even where it leaves these companies. I'm definitely excited to see what Bugatti Rimac eventually cranks out.

But even more than that, this merger foreshadows the future of the entire automotive industry. Rimac's rise to prominence demonstrates how electric vehicles are beginning to take over the luxury and sports car market. The company is now valued at multiple billions of dollars, despite having produced an insanely small number of cars. Like I think I personally have built more cars than Rimac has.

I'm not saying they're any better, but what they have done is pioneering when it comes to electric vehicles. Clearly, Volkswagen is betting that having the most advanced technology in the coming decades will be much more valuable than having the most famous badges. This deal also may be the death knell for the combustion engine supercar.

It's not even really about what's best for the environment, though that's obviously a plus. It's simply about speed. Someday soon when the Navera finally rolls off the production line, the fastest car in the world will be powered by electricity, and now it will be made by Bugatti Rimac.

Breathe in and out. Good. Mindfulness and controlled breathing are great practices for managing stress, but you know what else is? Going off road. Find yourself and share in the chillness with this new shirt. Find yourself. Flowers, butterflies, toadstool, frog, all around you, all around mother earth, and only $29.98.

So much cheaper than $30. Available now at donutmedia.com. Go find yourself the chillest shirt we've ever made. Namaste my dudes. Namaste, James. What? Who said that? Thank you for watching Wheelhouse. Thank you, Nick behind the camera. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Harlan.

If you wanna know more about electric vehicles, We did a great video on whether or not they're actually better for the environment. The answer may surprise you. Put that over here somewhere. That's one of my favorite episodes. Check it out for sure.

If you're a Donut superfreak and you want more Donut content, hit that join button down below. Learn how you can join the Donut underground and get behind-the-scenes videos, director's cuts of high-low episodes, access to a discord channel where a bunch of cool Donut fans are hanging out, and stickers.

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WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- You probablyknow a lot about Bugatti,maybe that it was foundedin 1909 by Etorre Bugattior that these days they're known forbuilding ultra high-end Supercars.You probably don't know a lot about Rimac.Like that it's a twelve year oldelectric car maker.or that it even exists.But in early July of 2021,these two incredibly,incredibly different companiesannounced that they weremerging?Today on wheelhouse, a Croatian company,a German company, and a French companywalk into a business meeting andBugatti Rimac is born.How the heck did one of theoldest names in car makingget bought by a young companybetter known for makingcomponents rather than cars?And does this mean we'reabout to see Bugatti,the company known for building massivesixteen cylinder quadturbo charged engines,ditch gas, powered vehicles?- Big thanks to Keeps forsponsoring today's video.Well, it's official my healthisn't getting any better,but worse than that, thebank is finally taking awayMy old Jerry family cabin.All right, take it away, boys.So many memoriesgone just like that.You know, it's moments like these,that remind us of what it'slike to be one of the two orthree guys to experience someform of male pattern baldnessBy the time you're 35.it's about losing stuff, Dave.Losing the cabin, losing my hair.Ah, yes.If only I'd use Keeps.Keeps makes hair loss prevention easyby giving you accessto real doctors online.Plus, they'll ship you yourhair loss medication directlyto your door every three months.So don't wait and lose those follicles.Start your hair lossprevention from home todayby going to keeps.com/wheelhouse50,or click the link in thedescription to receive50% off your first order.- Look out!- Time to go Dave!Faster!Faster Dave!- If you missed the news originally,or you need a refresher,let me borrow a phrase from mygood friend, James Pumphrey,to catch you up to date.Wait, that's...up to?up to snuff?up to,ehh, I forget.On July 5th, Rimac andPorsche announced that inthe fourth quarter of 2021,Bugatti will become jointlyowned between the two companies.Volkswagen, which currentlyowns both Porsche and Bugatti,will transfer 45% of Bugatti sharesinto Porsche's control.Rimac will control theother 55% of the new companycalled Bugatti Rimac.So basically Volkswagensold half of Bugattito Rimac and reshuffled the other halfunder its own corporate umbrella,except that's not really a salebecause no money changed hands.Wait, what?How? Why?To understand these corporate shenanigans,first, we need to learna little bit of history.Bugatti is simultaneouslya legendary badgeand one that has never really beena huge commercial success.They first became known forwinning on the racetrackway back in the 1930s.Meanwhile, our generation knows Bugattias a super modernhypercar brand that breaksspeed records.The history of Bugattican basically be brokeninto three chapters.In the early days of a Ettore Bugatti,his company became famousfor building the Type 35;one of the most successfulrace cars in history.The Type 35 won over 2000 racesand basically put Bugatti on the map.Wow, that's a lot.Over the next few decades,the company also built hugeluxury cars like the Royale.And I do mean huge!One special edition wascalled the Royale Kellner.But a Ettore Bugatti died in 1947and the company crumbled.Eventually stoppedmaking cars all togetherand was sold off as an airplaneparts business in 1963.Chapter two began in 1987when Bugatti was reborn;the car company, notthe, not the dead guy.Businessman Romano Artiolibought the trademark and revivedthe company as an Italianbuilder of high-end sports cars.And in 1991, Artioli's versionof the company releasedthe EB 110, which broke the Shelby Cobra'stwenty-six year old record to becomethe world's most powerfulproduction car at 553 horsepower.The EB110 was one of the coolestsupercars of the nineties.It was obviously very fastwith a top speed of over 200miles per hour.But it was also innovative.Incorporating uncommonfeatures for the timelike the carbon fiber Monica chassisand all wheel drive.Unfortunately though Bugatti'snew owner overextendedhimself by also trying toacquire Lotus cars in 1993,which led to him declarebankruptcy in 1995.And as a result,only 139 EB110s were ever produced.After several years in bankruptcy court,Volkswagen swooped intobuy Bugatti in 1998and thus began the company's third andmost recent chapter.At the time, VW is run by Ferdinand Piech,who started as the leader of Audi,then became the dictatorlike head of the Volkswagengroup for several decades.He was also the grandsonof Ferdinand Porsche,which made him automotive royalty.After saving VW from near ruin,Piech could do prettymuch whatever he wanted.And since he loved high-endcars, he brought companieslike Rolls Royce,Lamborghini, and eventuallyeven Porsche itself under the VW umbrella.But when he bought Bugatti,Piech hoped to put the company,quote, on top of the automotive world.Volkswagen's purchasetotally transformed BugattiPiech restored thecompany to his former homein Molsheim, France and also builtsixty miles of test trackin the German forestto try to break speed records,which is exactly what happened.First came the Veyron,which set the world recordfor fastest production carin 2010 at 267.9 miles per hour.Then in 2019, the ChironSuper Sport 300 Plusprototype broke that record.It became the firstproduction vehicle to breakthe 300 mile per hour barrier.However, it doesn't havethe production car record.Uh, If you want to know whichcar does check out this video.So why is a car maker knownfor massive record breaking gasengines now in the hands ofan electric vehicle company?Well, the first stepcame when Ferdinand Piechstepped down in 2015 after losingan internal political battleto his successor as CEO,Martin Winterkorn.And I know what you're thinking.Winterkorn sounds likea Korn Christmas album.And I just want to say, I agree with you.And I think that should happen.Anyway, without Piechactively running the show,his favorite hobby brandsstarted to fall out of favor.But he remained in largeshareholder in Volkswagen until hisdeath in 2019.That was the next step towardsVW moving on from Bugatti.Without the ex chairmanlooking over their shoulder,Volkswagen's new leadershipfinally decided to turn thecompany completely towards the future.I'm sure the whole emissionscandal helped a little bit too.And even though Bugattisignature sixteen cylinderengines are still setting speed records.Eventually gas engines willbe technologically outclassedby electrification.And this is where Rimac enters the story.Mate Rimac was only 20 yearsold when he founded hiscompany in 2009, exactly 100 yearsafter a Ettore Bugatti did the same.Rimac, the company, startedas a one man operationin Rimac, the person's, garageafter the engine in his 1984BMW three series blew upand he bolted an electricforklift motor in its place.That's pretty sick.This car eventuallybecame the Rimac e-M 3,AKA the green monster.And in 2012, it put Rimacon the technological mapwhen it achieved zero to ahundred kilometers an hourin just 3.3 seconds,zero to 60, that's pretty damn quick.And it made it the world's fastestaccelerating electric vehicle.But despite the old Beamer'ssuccess on the track,Mate was frustrated by thenumber of changes that took tofully transform car.So he decided that it'd besimpler to just design his ownall electric Supercars from then on.This led to the Concept_One,which looks kind of like aPorsche from a cooler dimension.Hidden beneath the sleek exterior are fourliquid cooled, perma-mag, electric motors,one at each wheel, addingup to over 1200 horsepower.Top Gear's Jeremy Clarksonsaid the Concept_Onewas, quote, faster thananything else he's ever drivenby big, big margin.And it was also too much carfor his co-host Richard Hammondwho crashed one of the eightConcept_Ones in existence downthe side of a mountain while filming.I mean, they still makefun of him for that.That woulda been scary.That's crazy. Poor Richard.After the extremely limitedrelease of Concept_One,Rimac debuted the Nevera,which sports a 1,914horsepower electric engine.My goodness.A top speed of 258 milesper hour and the zero to 60,less than two seconds.Good God!The Navera was initially announced at the2018 Geneva motor show,but it took until this year forproduction to finally start.When it actually hits roads,the Navera is expected to breakthe Chiron's record as thefastest production car ever made.So you can start tounderstand why this companyfits alongside Bugatti.Today, the number ofRimacs and customer garagescan still be counted on one or two hands.However, the company hasgrown to 850 employees,is about to open a huge newheadquarters in Croatia.And that's because Rimac hasbecome one of the fastestgrowing vehicle componentcompanies in the industry,thanks to its highlyrespected E V technology.So much so that in 2018,Porsche acquired 10% ownershipof Rimac in order to forma development partnership,which leads us back to the Bugatti deal.In June of 2021, Volkswagenannounced they would completelyhalt sales of combustion enginepowered vehicles in Europeby 2035.Bugatti, meanwhile is stillselling the Chrion Pur Sport,which gets eight miles per gallon.So pretty clearly withoutFerdinand Piech around,the two companies, aren'treally a great fit anymore.But even though he's out of the picture,VW leadership still hasn't beenable to cut bait on Bugattibecause the surviving Piech membersstill own 50% of the company.Meaning that if they tryto dump Ferdinand Piech's,record breaking pet project,his family can tank the deal.This is where the pieces ofthe Bugatti Rimac deal cometogether like a very expensive andgas guzzling jigsaw puzzle.Volkswagen decided toessentially get rid of theirproblem child, Bugatti,by letting Mate Rimactake control of it inexchange for a larger stakein his high performanceelectric technology.And to make it acceptableto the surviving Piechs,the deal is designed tospecifically benefit their family's,ancestral company, Porsche.Deals like this are obviously complex,but this one kind of shakesout as a win-win-win.Porsche now owns a big chunk of the Naveraand all future Rimac supercars.And that means VW and Porsche can bothincorporate Rimac'stech as they transitionaway from gas engines.Rimac gets the famedBugatti badge, plus accessto Porsche's vastly moreexperienced engineering team.And all of them standto make a lot more moneyif VW becomes a market leaderin electric vehicles and,or Rimac becomes a householdname, which I think they will.There's a huge opportunityhere because American EVsaside from the Tesla are still way behindthe technological curve.And even Tesla is stilla mostly luxury brand.Someone is eventually goingto make a super affordable,reliable, long range, EV for the masses.And now Volkswagen is in prime positionto be the ones who do.very smart.But, the biggest winnerin all of this might bethirty-three-year-old Mate Rimac,who will become CEO of Bugatti Rimac.His company, the Rimac Group, will own 55%of Bugatti Rimac as wellas a hundred percentof a new, separate business,called Rimac Technology,which will continue todevelop high performance EVpowertrains for other car makers.It is reportedly alreadyworking with at least ten majormanufacturers, includingFerrari, Mercedes,and Aston Martin.Mate has also hinted attaking the Rimac Grouppublic in 2022,which could make him personallyaround $2 billion as thecompany's largest shareholder.So if you're trying to predictwho the next Elon Musk is,this guy has to be in pole position.He already announced theBugatti Rimac merger dressed inshorts and running shoes,which seems somewhat Musk-y to me.I'm guessing he startsa space company in liketwo years, three years, tops...definitely some sort of exploratory group.If you're wondering what allthis financial dealing means interms of actual cars,you're a patient person.And I will tell you.Bugatti and Rimac will continue todevelop and badge cards separately.Rimac branded cars willbe built in Croatia,while Bugattis will stillbe assembled in Molsheim.But both brands will use thepowertrains developed andmanufactured by Rimactechnology in Croatia.Unfortunately, for fans ofBugatti's current speed machines,the days of the 16 cylinderengine are numbered.But a 2000 horsepower hybridhypercar and a full EVBugatti are both due for release by 2030.Mate Rimac says he's alsoconsidering future Bugattis withmore than two doors andpotentially even some moreaffordable, less powerful cars built athigher production volumes,but in Bugatti terms,that means like stillhundreds of thousands of dollars.If any of that actually comes to pass,it would be a pretty huge changefor a brand that has spentover a hundred yearsselling some of the fastestand most expensive cars ever built.But in the words of Mate Rimac, quote,Bugatti's fourth chapter starts nowand with Porsche at our backs,I believe we can do incredible things.You see what I did thatchapter thing earlier?the craziest thing aboutthis deal isn't even where itleaves these companies.I'm definitely excitedto see what Bugatti Rimaceventually cranks out.But even more than that,this merger foreshadowsthe future of the entireautomotive industry.Rimac's rise to prominencedemonstrates howelectric vehicles arebeginning to take over theluxury and sports car market.The company is now valued atmultiple billions of dollars,despite having produced aninsanely small number of cars.Like I think I personally havebuilt more cars than Rimac has.I'm not saying they're any better.But what they have done is pre singularwhen it comes to electric vehicles.So clearly Volkswagen isbetting that having the mostadvanced technology in thecoming decades will be much morevaluable than havingthe most famous badges.This deal also may be thedeath now for the combustionengine super car.It's not even really aboutwhat's best for the environment,though that's obviously a plus.it's simply about speed.Someday soon when the Navera finallyrolls off the production line,the fastest car in the worldwill be powered by electricity.And now it will be made by Bugatti Rimac.- Breathe in and out.Good.Mindfulness and controlled breathing aregreat practices for managing stress,but you know what else is?- Going off Road.- Find yourself and share in the chillnesswith this new shirt.- Find yourself.- Flowers, butterflies, toadstool, frog,all around you, all around mother earthand only $29.98.- So much cheaper than 30 dollars.- Available now at donutmedia.com.Go find yourself the chillestshirt we've ever made.Namaste my dudes.- Namaste, James.- What?Who said that?- Thank you for watching Wheelhouse.Thank you, Nick behind the camera.Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Harlan.If you wanna know moreabout electric vehicles,We did a great video onwhether or not they'reactually better for the environment.The answer may surprise youput that over here somewhere.That's one of my favorite episodes.Check that out for sure.If you're a Donut superfreak and you want more Donutcontent hit that join button down below.Learn how you can jointhe Donut undergroundand get behind the scenes videos,director's cuts of high-low episodes,access to a discord channelwhere a bunch of coolDonut fans are hanging out, and stickers.Be Kind. I'll see ya next time