Mate Rimac tells us how he grounds himself after working with the 1,000+hp Rimac and Bugatti hypercars — by finding simple pleasures in "youngtimer" cars
Bugatti Singapore’s 20th anniversary celebration for the Veyron saw a surprise guest in attendance — Mate Rimac.
The segment of super sports cars does not only require vision and foresight, but also a mercurial personality. After all, the stuff of aspiration and dreams is best led by one person, as opposed to a committee of bean counters and conscientious objectors. As the head of brands like Bugatti and Rimac, you set the trends and lead the market, not play follow-the-leader.
If you are wondering, the thirty-something Croat is a legend and a rock star in the rarefied realm of hypercars. Today, he stands toe-to-toe with the likes of CvK (Christian von Koenigsegg) and Horacio Pagani — formerly idols, but now his friends in an ultra-exclusive club.
In a brief 18 years, the maverick inventor-entrepreneur has gone from electrifying his BMW E30 3 Series in a home garage to building his first “Concept One” electric hypercar from scratch, to his current role as head honcho of one of the most innovative companies in the automotive sphere.
The Rimac Group comprises Rimac Technology, which supplies batteries and powertrains to the world’s major automotive brands, as well as Bugatti Rimac, which is a joint venture (JV) formed in 2021 between Rimac and Porsche.
The latter comprises the Bugatti Automobiles and Rimac Automobili hypercar brands, with Bugatti sitting on the internal combustion engine end of the spectrum and Rimac, the electric vehicle end of the segment.
Self-starters like Rimac thrive outside the restrictive confines of a formalised structure, which could go some way towards explaining his intention to buy over Porsche’s share of the JV.
Clients in this segment enter into a relationship with the brand. Selling the car is just the beginning of a beautiful relationship, which encompasses an entire ecosystem around the brand, the cars and their owners.
This also means a certain continuity is expected for older models (like the 20-year-old Veyron) to stay relevant and still valuable. For instance, some updates for the Veyron will be rolled out over the course of this year, including a new rim tyre that can now be mounted separately — the original tyre was bonded to the alloy rim, which made changing them a costly and laborious affair, but new technology sees improvements to this process.
“We want to keep the value of the cars,” says Rimac. “And this is something the customer should never have to worry about, even if the model is from the 1980s or 1990s. We will have to find a solution to the problem, either through remanufacturing or producing a new unit that can replace it. We can’t let these old cars die; we have to keep them going.”
Unsurprisingly, Rimac feels that a car’s utility can be a foil to its value, which is why he is adamant that a Bugatti will always take the form of a two-door, even though before he arrived, the next Bugatti was supposed to be an electric, four-seat SUV.
He adds, “I don’t know of any four-door car that ever increased in value. That’s the crazy thing about cars: the more utility they have, the more value they lose. We need to make Bugattis to hold at least, if not increase, their value.”
Rimac continues, “I decided to create the Tourbillon instead, because I didn't think an SUV was the right thing for the brand. In fact, I don't see a Bugatti SUV or something like that anytime in the near future. However, we do think about how we can expand the brand, and I would say we will not just be a rear-engined hypercar over the course of the next decade.”
Given the performance success of the all-electric Rimac Nevera, it wouldn’t have been remiss for the customers to expect that Rimac would steer Bugatti in an electric direction. “All the customers thought that when I came in, Bugatti would become completely electric and digital, and they got the opposite with the Tourbillon,” Rimac smiles wryly.
Being adaptable and agile is very important in this segment, which goes some way towards explaining why Bugatti isn’t going electric, despite all that it learned with the Nevera.
“I don't think electric hypercars are the future in this market, because I don't believe the market really wants such cars. We sold 70+ Neveras over four or five years, so commercially, it’s the most successful electric supercar by far. However, I see the difference with the Tourbillon, which is double the price, but was completely sold out before we even started deliveries. Even with the strength of the Bugatti brand and the beautiful design of the Tourbillon, if it had been electric, I think we would have a hard time selling all the cars,” Rimac elaborates.
When you’re constantly surrounded by 1,000+hp machines, how does Rimac find a way of grounding himself? It might surprise many to learn that Rimac seeks solace in “youngtimer” cars, a topic that immediately ignites a twinkle in his eyes.
“With the Nevara, everything else becomes slow, and I mean everything, including a Bugatti! So then you learn to find pleasure in other things about cars, and this is what I like,” he tells us.
“I am completely spoiled when it comes to performance, but I’ve learned to find little things about other cars that I can appreciate, and I try to incorporate elements of these into my cars. On the 812, I love the downshifts, on the Carrera GT, I love the manual gearbox and the V10 soundtrack, and on the E46 M3 CSL, I love the way you sit in the car — the ergonomics of the CSL are perfect. For the SLR, I love the design and the engine in front, the bonnet design and having the exhausts behind the front wheels. So for every car, I try to find something I love. And on this topic, I just bought a VW Phaeton W12 — which, like the Veyron, was another pet project of Piëch’s — and I'm so excited about it!” Rimac enthuses.
And what did Rimac learn about Singapore, given it is his first time here?
“Singapore is a very interesting case, because the customers never drive their Bugattis. They never take them out of this building (referring to the Wearnes Automotive tax-free bonded storage), but people still buy them like works of art and for bragging rights. There are a lot of investor-type owners, rather than drivers,” he marvels.
