Von der Leyen visits Rimac car manufacturer's facilities in Sveta Nedelja

The Rimac Automobili Company is a Croatian car manufacturer headquartered in Sveta Nedelja that develops and produces electric hyper-cars, drivetrains and battery systems. It also recently became the majority owner of the French high-performance luxury automobile manufacturer and luxury brand for hyper sports cars, Bugatti.

After attending a special session of Croatian Government on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her host Prime Minister Andrej Plenković visited the Rimac Automobili electric car manufacturer in Sveta Nedelja. Commission President Von der Leyen had this to say after viewing a special presentation put on by Rimac Automobili founder and CEO, Mate Rimac: "Being here with you Mate, and having seen the presentation, I must say I'm deeply impressed I have seen the future present here in Croatia."

Addressing the media after their meeting Prime Minister Plenković touched on the importance of construction of the company’s decision to build an educational and research and development facility in Croatia: "As Mate noted in his presentation, drawing on the legacy of Nikola Tesla, Croatia has plenty of young and creative people, innovators, people who completely understand current trends that will transform into reality in the future."

"What is important for Croatia, is that this will create plenty of added value, and that this project will draw in hundreds of millions of Euros from foreign investors. The goal is to produce these cars in large numbers, in the tens of thousands, right here in Croatia, including their various components," added Rimac.

Rimac Automobili is most widely known to the public as the producer of the Concept One from 2013 to 2016. It was, at the time, the world's fastest production electric vehicle, with an electronically limited top speed of 340 km/h. The company followed this up with the Nevera, which was unveiled to the public at the 88th Geneva International Motor Show in March 2018. The Nevera can accelerate from 100 km/h in 1.97 seconds, making it the fastest-accelerating production car in the world. It boasts a top speed of 412 km/h. Production of units for the world’s elite customers is expected to begin this year.

Source: HRT