Category Archives: News

News

A Billion-Euro Question: Who Buys Porsche’s Share of Bugatti Rimac?

In the rarified air where nine-figure hypercars meet nine-figure balance sheets, ownership can be just as transient as a Nürburgring lap record. The latest example comes from the Bugatti Rimac joint venture, where Porsche’s sizable stake may soon be looking for a new garage.

According to new reports, a venture capital fund co-founded by a descendant of Egypt’s billionaire Sawiris family is part of a group in talks to acquire Porsche’s share of Bugatti Rimac. If the deal goes through, it would mark yet another chapter in one of the most intricate alliances in modern automotive history.

Bugatti and Rimac officially joined forces in 2021, creating a marriage between a century-old French luxury icon and a Croatian electric-hypercar disruptor. Back then, the ownership chart looked like a particularly messy pit board: Mate Rimac held 37 percent of the Rimac Group, Porsche owned 24 percent, Hyundai controlled 12 percent, and the remaining 27 percent was split among various other investors. Fast-forward to today, and the structure has been simplified—but only slightly. The Rimac Group now owns 55 percent of Bugatti Rimac, while Porsche retains the remaining 45 percent.

That 45 percent is now the prize.

Bloomberg reports that HOF Capital, co-founded by a member of the Sawiris dynasty, along with private equity firm BlueFive Capital, is negotiating to acquire Porsche’s stake. The transaction could value Bugatti Rimac north of €1 billion (about $1.2 billion), and HOF is also said to be considering an additional capital injection into the Rimac Group to fuel future expansion.

None of the parties involved—Porsche, HOF Capital, or BlueFive—have publicly commented on the report. Rimac, however, has acknowledged that discussions with Porsche are ongoing regarding the venture’s future ownership structure, emphasizing that no agreement has yet been reached. It remains unclear whether Mate Rimac himself is directly involved in the current bid, though he has previously expressed interest in partnering with investors to buy Porsche out.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Rimac has been unusually candid about the downsides of complex corporate arrangements. Earlier this year, he openly vented about the difficulty of running a company with too many stakeholders pulling in different directions.

“I just want to be able to make long-term decisions, to make long-term investments, and to do things in a different way, without having to explain to 50 people,” Rimac said. “When you negotiate with a corporation, there are so many factors. It’s families, it’s multiple families. It’s an emotional topic.”

For a company tasked with building multimillion-dollar hybrid hypercars and shaping Bugatti’s post–internal-combustion future, emotional topics may be unavoidable—but simplicity has its appeal. Whether this potential deal delivers that simplicity, or just rearranges the logos on the letterhead, remains to be seen.

One thing is certain: in the hypercar world, the fastest-moving parts aren’t always the cars.

Source: Bloomberg

News

2024 Nissan GT-R Skyline Edition Tests the Collector Market

The Nissan GT-R has always lived in a strange limbo—too advanced to fade quietly into obscurity, too stubbornly unchanged to chase reinvention. For nearly two decades, the R35 generation carried on with incremental updates, daring the world to decide whether Godzilla was aging gracefully or simply refusing to age at all. Now, as production winds down and nostalgia starts doing what it does best, certain versions of the GT-R are inching toward collector status. Exhibit A: this 2024 GT-R Skyline Edition that just tried—and failed—to rewrite its own market value.

At a recent Cars & Bids auction, an ultra-low-mileage Skyline Edition coupe surged to an eye-watering $222,000 after 46 bids. That’s real money, and a lot of enthusiasm. It’s also not enough. The seller’s reserve remained untouched, suggesting that even a six-figure profit on paper isn’t sufficient when rarity, timing, and optimism collide.

Introduced for the 2024 model year, the Skyline Edition was Nissan’s carefully calculated nostalgia play for the U.S. market. Only 100 examples were built, each finished in Bayside Blue—a color so closely associated with the R34-generation GT-R that merely mentioning it sends certain corners of the internet into meltdown. It’s a paint choice that does most of the talking before the engine ever fires.

When new, the Skyline Edition carried an MSRP of $133,500. By modern supercar standards, that almost feels restrained, especially when you consider what Nissan bundled into the package. Mechanically, it’s the familiar R35 formula: a hand-assembled 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 producing 573 horsepower and 467 pound-feet of torque, sent through a six-speed dual-clutch transmission and all four wheels. It’s still brutally quick, still devastatingly effective, and still more video game boss than analog sports car.

But the Skyline Edition’s real differentiator isn’t horsepower—it’s atmosphere. Open the door and you’re greeted by a Sora Blue interior that makes most other R35 cabins look positively dour. Light blue leather spreads across the dashboard, door panels, seats, steering wheel, and center console, creating a look that’s equal parts luxury lounge and concept car throwback. Carbon-fiber trim cuts through the pastel palette, reminding you that this is still very much a performance weapon, not a fashion accessory.

Nissan sweetened the deal further with a titanium exhaust system, 20-inch Rays wheels, and electronically controlled Bilstein DampTronic dampers. It’s a greatest-hits list of GT-R hardware, curated for buyers who wanted the full experience without checking the aftermarket catalog.

This particular car was originally delivered by Riverside Nissan in California and had just 80 miles on the odometer when it crossed the virtual auction block. Eighty. That’s barely enough to warm the fluids, let alone wear in a clutch. In collector terms, it’s essentially a new car with a time capsule warranty.

So why didn’t $222,000 seal the deal? Because the modern collector market is as much about belief as it is about numbers. The seller clearly believes the Skyline Edition represents a future blue-chip GT-R—one that will sit comfortably alongside the most desirable R35 variants once the dust settles and the internal-combustion era feels properly distant. The bidders, enthusiastic as they were, weren’t quite ready to make that leap.

Still, the takeaway here isn’t failure—it’s momentum. A GT-R that originally sold for $133,500 attracting bids north of $220K tells you everything you need to know about where the wind is blowing. The R35 may have overstayed its welcome in showrooms, but in the collector world, it’s just starting to make sense.

Godzilla isn’t done evolving. It’s just changing arenas.

Source: Cars & Bids

News

The Karma Revero Takes Its Final Bow—But the Brand Isn’t Done Yet

The last Karma Revero has rolled off the line, closing the book on one of the most circuitous stories in modern automotive history. Last week, Karma Automotive quietly announced it had completed final production of the Revero, a sedan whose roots trace back more than a decade to the ill-fated Fisker Karma.

If that name rings a bell, it should. The original Fisker Karma arrived in the early 2010s with Hollywood flair, ambitious tech, and unfortunate timing. Fisker Automotive collapsed into bankruptcy in 2013, but the car itself refused to die. Its assets were scooped up, reworked, and reborn as the Karma Revero, which officially entered production in 2016 under new ownership.

To mark the occasion, Karma shared images of the final car on its social channels, describing it as a tribute meant “to honor where we began and illuminate where we are going.” The company didn’t dive into build specs or production numbers, but the send-off model wears a deep green exterior paired with a tan interior—a tasteful, almost nostalgic farewell for a car that’s lived multiple lives.

Mechanically, the Revero remains an unusual offering even by today’s standards. It’s an extended-range electric vehicle, pairing a battery-powered drivetrain with a gas engine that acts solely as a generator. Total output checks in at 536 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque, enough to hustle the 5,000-plus-pound sedan to 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds. Karma claimed a total driving range of up to 360 miles, including roughly 80 miles of pure electric operation—respectable numbers, even now.

But while the Revero itself is done, its underpinnings aren’t headed for the scrapyard just yet. Karma is preparing the Gyesera, a sedan that rides on the Revero’s aluminum spaceframe and uses the same 28.0-kWh battery. Power drops slightly to 566 horsepower—30 more than before, but with four fewer pound-feet of torque—yet Karma says the new car will hit 60 mph in a claimed 4.0 seconds. A redesigned cabin and refreshed styling aim to modernize what was, at times, a visibly aging platform.

Then there’s the Amaris GT Coupe, which represents Karma’s most aggressive statement yet. The two-seat grand tourer will combine a turbocharged four-cylinder generator with a larger 41.5-kWh battery, good for a claimed 708 horsepower and 676 pound-feet of torque. Karma says it’ll sprint to 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds, territory that puts it firmly in modern super-GT company.

What’s perhaps most surprising is that Karma Automotive is still standing at all. When Fisker first introduced the Karma nearly 20 years ago, the extended-range EV concept felt like a technological hedge—too electric for traditional buyers, too gas-powered for early EV adopters. At the time, the market simply wasn’t ready.

Today, the landscape looks very different. Scout has extended-range EVs in the pipeline, Ford has announced an onboard generator for the F-150 Lightning, and Nissan is moving toward a series-hybrid setup for the next-generation Rogue. As enthusiasm for full battery-electric vehicles cools in the U.S. and elsewhere, hybrids—and especially clever ones—are finding renewed favor.

That shift could finally play to Karma’s long-held strengths. The Revero may be gone, but its philosophy suddenly feels relevant again. And after everything this brand has survived, it wouldn’t be wise to count it out just yet.

Source: Karma Automotive