Rimac says the report claiming it split with Hyundai is 'fake news'
Mate Rimac, the man who founded the Croatian carmaker that bears his name, stressed that an earlier report claiming his firm is no longer working with Hyundai is “fake news.” He added that the three-year old partnership still stands, and Hyundai denied the rumor as well.
“Hyundai has commented on the fake-news article which says that Rimac and Hyundai are ending [their] collaboration because of the Porsche-Rimac collaboration. Both Hyundai and Rimac have said that it is not true. But [the] media still keeps writing about it. Well, says more about the media than anything else,” the executive declared on Facebook, citing a story in German magazine Auto, Motor, Und Sport.
The publication wrote that both companies remain strongly committed to the partnership and plan to continue working together in the foreseeable future. Hyundai added that it will “continue to invest in the Rimac Group and can confirm that several partnership projects are currently running at a high level,” though it stopped short of providing specific details. As we’ve previously reported, the Hyundai Group injected about 80 million euros (which represented around $90 million in 2019) into Rimac to create a pair of high-performance electrified cars. One is believed to take the form of an electric hot hatch, while the other is reportedly powered by a hydrogen-electric drivetrain.
While the partnership seemed to be going well, and the hydrogen-powered car was previewed by a concept called Vision FK in September 2021, industry trade journal Automotive News wrote in May 2022 that Hyundai had decided to cut ties with Rimac due to the latter’s close relationship with Porsche. Porsche owns 45% of a company called Bugatti-Rimac that the Volkswagen Group founded to offload Bugatti in June 2021. To further complicate this web, Porsche began investing in Rimac years ago and continues to own a 24% stake.
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