Rimac Automobili
Croatian maker of electric hypercars and EV battery/e-axle tech for automakers.
On the record
Checkpoint: HOF Capital consortium's acquisition of Rimac Group and Bugatti Rimac from Porsche expected to close
The call
The battery and e-axle supply business has a real BMW contract and manufacturing base, while the hypercar side keeps losing money as ownership changes hands.
Rimac makes high-performance electric car batteries and motors that power BMW's luxury cars, plus builds expensive, limited-edition electric supercars called Neveras. The battery business is hard to replace because BMW spent a decade qualifying Rimac's technology, but the real risk is that BMW is now building its own batteries, and Rimac's hypercar division is losing money while barely selling cars (only 50 of 150 promised Neveras delivered so far). The company's future depends on whether it can sell its batteries to other carmakers besides BMW and stop bleeding cash on hypercars before its new owner takes control in late 2026.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI tools like BMW's Mistral AI crash-simulation work speed up design for partners and rivals, not a direct threat to Rimac's core business. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: BMW in-house cell development, plus Bosch, ZF, Hyundai Mobis, CATL. BMW buys Rimac batteries for the i7 today but is developing its own Gen6 cells, and rival suppliers are far larger and better funded. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. A decade of OEM qualification work and a shipped BMW i7 battery contract that's hard for a new supplier to replicate fast.
What would change this call
Rimac Technology signs a battery/e-axle deal with a second OEM beyond BMW by late 2026. Shows the supplier arm is diversifying, not stuck as a single-customer dependency.
HOF Capital-led acquisition of Rimac Group and Bugatti Rimac closes by end-2026. Confirms the ownership transition is stable and capital commitments hold.
Rimac Technology headcount stops shrinking and turns upward after 2025. Would indicate the supplier business is stabilizing rather than contracting.
HOF Capital-led acquisition of Rimac Group and Bugatti Rimac closes by end-2026. Confirms the ownership transition is stable and capital commitments hold.
Rimac Technology headcount stops shrinking and turns upward after 2025. Would indicate the supplier business is stabilizing rather than contracting.
Key numbers
- Only ~50 of 150 planned Neveras delivered
- Rimac Technology headcount down ~15.8%
- Combined Bugatti+Rimac deliveries: 136 units
Named risks
- Nevera hypercar demand remains weak, with only ~50 of 150 units delivered by mid-2024.
- Rimac Technology battery revenue concentrated on single BMW i7 program while BMW develops in-house cells.
- Porsche to HOF Capital ownership transfer still pending regulatory clearance through end of 2026.
- Rimac Technology headcount fell 15.8% from 2023 to 2025, signaling execution stress.
- Verne robotaxi expansion depends on permitting in new cities and already needed one project deadline extension.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Bosch, ZF, Hyundai Mobis | contesting | Tier-1 auto suppliers compete for the same OEM battery/e-axle contracts Rimac Technology chases |
| BMW in-house Gen6 cell development | losing to | BMW builds its own next-gen cells while only sourcing the i7 battery from Rimac as of April 2026 |
| Koenigsegg, Bugatti, Pininfarina | contesting | Hypercar rivals share the same tiny buyer pool as Nevera, which sold only ~50 of 150 units by May 2024 |
| Pony.ai | losing to | Verne's Zagreb robotaxi launch, April 2026, runs on Pony.ai's Gen-7 AV stack, not Rimac's own AI |
Questions people ask
- Is Rimac Automobili profitable?
- No confirmed profit exists. The Nevera hypercar has underperformed: only about 50 of a planned 150 units were delivered by May 11, 2024, with founder Mate Rimac blaming weak demand on wealthy buyers preferring gas hypercars. Combined Bugatti plus Rimac deliveries reached just 136 units in 2025.
- Who owns Rimac Automobili now?
- As of April 24, 2026, Porsche agreed to fully divest its stakes in Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group to a consortium led by New York's HOF Capital, with BlueFive Capital as largest investor. Completion is targeted before end of 2026, pending regulatory clearance.
- Could AI replace Rimac's engineers or products?
- Unlikely for its core battery/manufacturing business, which relies on physical production capacity and OEM qualification cycles built over a decade, like the BMW i7 battery shipping April 22, 2026. Its robotaxi spinoff Verne is more exposed, since it licenses Pony.ai's Gen-7 driving system rather than owning the AI.
- Who is Rimac's biggest competitor?
- In battery supply, Tier-1 giants Bosch, ZF, and Hyundai Mobis, plus BMW's own in-house Gen6 cell development, threaten to squeeze Rimac Technology's single BMW relationship. In hypercars, Koenigsegg, Bugatti (its own JV sibling), and Automobili Pininfarina compete for the same tiny buyer pool.
- What is Verne and does Rimac own the self-driving tech?
- Verne is Rimac Group's robotaxi venture, formerly Project 3 Mobility, which launched what it calls Europe's first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb on April 8-9, 2026 with Uber. The actual driving intelligence comes from Pony.ai's Gen-7 system, not Rimac's own AI.
- Did Porsche sell its Rimac stake?
- Yes. On April 24, 2026, Porsche announced it would fully divest its 20.6 percent direct Rimac Group stake and its 45 percent Bugatti Rimac JV stake to a HOF Capital-led consortium, with completion expected before end of 2026 subject to regulatory approval.
Timeline
- 2026-04-24Porsche agrees to fully divest Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group stakes to HOF Capital consortium
- 2026-04-22BMW i7 world premiere at Auto China Beijing debuts jointly developed Rimac battery
- 2026-04-09Verne launches Europe's first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb with Uber and Pony.ai
- 2026-02Nurdin Pitarević promoted to Rimac Technology CEO, Mate Rimac refocuses on Bugatti
- 2026-01-30First Nevera R Founder's Edition delivered at The I.C.E. St. Moritz
- 2025-09Rimac Technology unveils solid-state battery tech and new e-axles at IAA Mobility
- 2024-08Nevera R launched with 2,107hp and 0-300km/h in 8.66 seconds
- 2024-05-11Only ~50 of 150 planned Neveras delivered; founder cites weak demand
- 2021-07Bugatti Rimac joint venture formed with Porsche (Rimac 55%, Porsche 45%)
- 2019Hyundai and Kia jointly invest €80 million in Rimac
Revision history
25 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Rimac Automobili (Wikipedia) (2026-07-24)
- Porsche sells its stakes in Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group to international consortium (2026-04-23)
- Slow-Selling Nevera Is a Sales Flop Because Rich People Want ICE Supercars, Mate Rimac Says (2024-05-11)
- Mustang GTD Deliveries Outpace Global Sales (2026-01-09)
- Rimac Nevera (2024-02-29)
- Rimac Automobili Delivers First Nevera R 'Founder's Edition' at The I.C.E. St. Moritz (2026-01-30)
- BMW Group and Rimac Technology Cooperate on Innovative High-Voltage Battery for the BMW i7 (2026-04-07)
- Rimac Technology (Wikipedia) (2026-06-28)
- Verne Launches Europe's First Commercial Robotaxi Service in Croatia (2026-04-09)
- Rimac Technology Employees (Revelio Labs) (2026-06-29)
- Rimac Group (Datanyze)
- Verne Robotaxi Service Partners with Uber and Pony.ai for Launch (2026-04-09)