Hyundai Doesn't Want Rimac's Help To Build Sports Cars

Croatian hypercar manufacturer Rimac has been in the news a lot lately. The makers of the Rimac Nevera supercar recently teamed up with Porsche to take control over Bugatti in a blockbuster deal that should yield some incredible electric vehicles. Unfortunately, Rimac's close ties with Porsche and Bugatti have resulted in the termination of another partnership with the Hyundai Motor Group.

As part of an $84 million investment, Rimac was set to build two vehicles for the Hyundai Group: an electric sports car under the N brand and a fuel cell vehicle. According to Automotive News, Hyundai now wants to call off the deal due to Rimac's involvement with Porsche.

It's unclear if Hyundai wants to sell its 12% stake in Rimac that was included in the partnership. For comparison, Porsche now owns a 24% stake, up from its initially 10% investment. Though the deal is reportedly terminated, the fruits of partnership will still see the light of day. Hyundai will take over the electric sports car project that was started with Rimac, but finish it in-house with an expected 2023 launch date.

Hyundai is already working on a sporty N version of its Ioniq 5 EV, though based on the performance offered in the Kia EV6 GT, it doesn't seem like the Korean automakers needs Rimac's help for that project. Though the project was rumored to exist under the Hyundai brand, we wonder if it could form the basis for a production Genesis X Speedium Coupe.

As for the fuel cell project, it won't go any further. "We have two active high-level projects ongoing [with Hyundai], one completed and several future projects under discussion," a Rimac spokeswoman told Automotive News Europe. "Hyundai has been supportive in the transformation of the company during the last 12 months - including the carve-out of Rimac Technology and joining forces with Bugatti under the new company Bugatti Rimac."

Hyundai declined to comment officially about the Rimac breakup, but we expect official news will come soon.