Near a fairly anonymous roundabout on the D392, close to Molsheim in north-eastern France, there is a sign with a tiny Bugatti logo. Its purpose is to direct visitors to the factory that serves as the beating heart of this extravagant supercar marque par excellence, but it could easily be overlooked. It’s certainly a discreet entrée to a carmaker whose products are anything but.
I am here, 20 minutes’ drive from Strasbourg, to interview Mate Rimac, the firm’s 37-year-old CEO. But first I must pass through a security checkpoint, where my passport is to be retained for the duration of my visit. I’m also told to keep my phone firmly in my pocket, perhaps to prevent me snapping any unauthorised pictures of parts of Bugatti’s ‘Programme Solitaire’ one-off coachbuilt cars.
The first of these, a Brouillard coupe, is rumoured to be priced at $30 million and is still very much under wraps at the time of my visit. Next I pass a 19th-century château that serves as the company’s museum, before moving on to the factory, which, on the outside at least, resembles a large converted barn.
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The interview has been arranged to discuss the launch of Bugatti’s new €4 million V16 Tourbillon. Significantly, it is the company’s first hypercar not to feature legacy parts or thinking from former owner Volkswagen Group. But Rimac is relaxed: all 250 units in the original production run have already been spoken for, with first deliveries to be made some time in 2026.
Extreme performance
Bugatti was founded in 1909 and began to earn a reputation with cars such as the Type 35, Type 57 SC Atlantic and Type 41 Royale, which defined the early years of the brand and established the commitment of founder Ettore Bugatti to creating extraordinary, no-compromise cars. That included racers, tourers and limousines which matched the likes of Rolls-Royce.
However, following the death of the founder in 1947, the company ceased production in the early 1950s and entered a period of inactivity. It was revived in the late 1980s by short-term Bugatti brand owner Romano Artioli, who brought back both the name and the ethos with the 535bhp, 200mph V12 EB110 in the 1990s.
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That attracted Volkswagen’s attention and, ultimately, its cheque book. However, in 2021 VW Group divested itself of its direct holding in the French brand. Today Rimac’s eponymous company holds 55 per cent of the business, with the other 45 per cent held by Porsche AG (which, rather confusingly, is ultimately controlled by VW Group). I meet Rimac as he is concluding a two hour quality-and-detail walk-around of in-construction hypercars.
Since the beginning, Bugatti’s raison d’être has been extreme performance – something Rimac explains he does not want to change. The Tourbillon preserves its founding principles with a 1,800bhp V16 hybrid motor developed by UK engine-builder Cosworth. Caged behind the cockpit of the new Tourbillon, it’s key to a 10-year plan that Rimac has developed.
Before embarking on it, however, he had to wrestle Bugatti out of the recent past. It’s a process he describes in a refreshingly straightforward manner. ‘Before I arrived, there was a really strong design team already in place,’ he says.
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‘[They told] me how [under VW ownership] they had to all the time try to convince [VW] and beg to do something. Most of the time it [VW] was too conservative.’ (For context, it’s worth remembering the company was still producing hypercars capable of speeds of more than 250mph during this period.) ‘So, most of the things [the design team] would like to do have not been done.’
Rimac says the Tourbillon is the first hypercar to have 3D-printed suspension, developed in collaboration with US-based Divergent Technologies. He explains: ‘When I came up with that, the engineers were like, “Oh, there’s a million risks. Like there’s a reason why no one is doing that. You know, why should we be the first? Let someone else do it first.” I’m like, “No, [we should] do things like that first.”’
The Tourbillon is also claimed to be the first car with an audio entertainment system that does not require speakers. Instead, surfaces inside the car – such as the door panels – are resonated, so that they act like speakers. Rimac believes this does not just result in a better sound system but also saves both weight and space.
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The approach he wields at the helm of Bugatti in 2025 is something of a throwback to the Bosnian-born Rimac’s teenage years as a multiple winner of electronics innovation competitions. Wanting to go racing at 18, in 2006, he bought a 1984 BMW 323i, blew up its petrol engine and replaced it with a fork-lift truck electric motor and batteries. Other racers joked he was competing in a washing machine. Until he started winning.
Rimac Group
Rimac Group, the company that owns 55 per cent of Bugatti, was founded in 2009 and initially had 10 staff. The business has since become a leading force in the development, production and supply of battery systems, drivetrains and other EV components for the auto industry, helping it to grow to 700 people and annual revenues of £75 million.
The business also produces its own cars, such as the Rimac Nevera electric hypercar, which was launched in 2018 as the production version of a concept presented at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. (Interestingly, Rimac reveals during our conversation that there are no plans at all for a Bugatti EV.) It was around the time of the Nevera’s launch that VW approached Rimac to explore a new vision for the next chapter of Bugatti, which would be led by a new generation of hybrid hypercar. A deal was done that laid the foundations for the business that exists today.
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Following the departure of VW, the situation is complex. Rimac Group holds 55 per cent of the shares in Bugatti (which is actually called Bugatti Rimac), while Porsche AG holds 45 per cent. Mate Rimac retains a 35 per cent shareholding in Rimac Group, Porsche has 22 per cent, Hyundai Motor Group 11 per cent, and other investors 32 per cent between them. But, to all intents and purposes, Mate Rimac calls the shots at Bugatti.
The Bugatti Tourbillon
As he developed his vision for the future of the business, Rimac and his team visited a watchmaking factory in Switzerland. During the visit, while inspecting mechanical components, a moment of inspiration came courtesy of the horological tourbillon device – which Bugatti says evokes ‘a sense of peerless quality, craftsmanship, and technical ability’. The tour prompted a member of the team to suggest ‘Tourbillon’ for the name of the new Bugatti model– and it stuck.
The combination of its V16 engine with a hugely powerful hybrid system and innovations such as instruments designed by Swiss watchmaker Concepto and the speaker-less sound system ‘make the car so attractive that it was sold out before it was even shown to the public’, Rimac says.
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He adds: ‘We’re blessed: our customers are willing to pay so much money for cars that we can do this automotive art.’ At the same time, he notes the decision to start with a fresh sheet of paper for the Tourbillon, ‘doing everything from scratch’, was a huge gamble. ‘That is the biggest risk; there are no more deep pockets [of VW]. We have to be self-sufficient and finance completely on our own.’
That completely new V16 hybrid powerplant from scratch is no mean feat. ‘A combustion engine needs to be as emotional as possible, and an emotional combustion engine is naturally aspirated,’ Rimac explains. ‘No turbos mean less power, [but] I knew that we could make a very strong hybrid system to make up for that. I was like, “OK, we can get 800 horsepower [from the electric motor]. The Chiron was 1,600 so we need at least 1,800. So the combustion engine needs to be 1,000.”’
He put in a call to Bruce Wood, managing director of UK engine specialist Cosworth Powertrain. ‘I said, “Hey, I’m not sure if you ever heard of us.” He was like, “Yeah, I heard of [you].”’ Rimac wanted a non-turbo 1,000 horsepower V16, and gave a timeline. Wood said words to the effect of ‘no problem’.
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‘They just did it, we [ran] prototypes for [18 months], never had an engine failure. They did a fantastic job.’ And so began a fruitful partnership.
What’s next for the brand? Well, there’s the prospect of more one-off coachbuilt cars – but the big picture is Rimac’s detailed 10-year plan. ‘We know exactly [what] we want to make in 2031 and 2032,’ he states confidently. What can we expect? In one sense, the answer is simple: ‘Higher in exclusivity, higher in perfection.’
A new era has begun. If the Tourbillon is anything to go by, watching it all unfold will be a lot of fun.
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 97. Click here to subscribe
