In its years of ascendancy, the Volkswagen Group acquired the Italian design firm Italdesign and dormant hypercar maker Bugatti. Now as it battles the uneven rate of electric vehicle (EV) adoption, the rise of Chinese automakers, and continuing tariff uncertainty, it has unloaded both companies.

In a deal initially announced in April, but officially closed last week, Porsche, the performance car maker which is majority owned by the Volkswagen Group, has sold its stakes in Bugatti Rimac and the Rimac Group.

Under the old structure, which was put in place in 2021, Bugatti Rimac, which includes the Bugatti and Rimac brands, was 45 per cent owned by Porsche, with the remaining stake belonging to the Rimac Group. Porsche also held a 24 per cent stake in the broader Rimac Group, in which founder Mate Rimac held around 37 per cent.

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All of Porsche's holdings have now been bought up by a consortium led by two venture capital firms: New York's HOF Capital and Abu Dhabi's BlueFive Capital.

Porsche confirmed the deal has been closed, and that it has banked nearly €1 billion (A$1.6bn) from the sale. Around €250 million of the proceeds will be used to fulfill the automaker's pension obligations.

As part of the transaction, Christophe Piochon, the CEO of Bugatti and chief operating officer (COO) of Bugatti Rimac, has been shown the door.

In addition to his roles as CEO of Bugatti Rimac, the Rimac Group and Rimac Technology, Mate Rimac will now become the CEO of Bugatti too. Marko Brkljačić, a former COO of Rimac Technology, will become the Rimac Group's COO.

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In a prepared statement, Mate Rimac thanked Porsche for being a "very valuable partner for all these years [and] enabling us to build strong foundations for the future of the brand".

Also last week, Audi sold a majority stake in Italdesign to UST, a Singapore-backed IT consulting firm with headquarters in California and India.

Italdesign and UST announced the completion of the deal, initially revealed in December last year, on its website, with UST's chief financial officer Vijay Padmanabhan saying: "By uniting Italdesign’s renowned design and engineering capabilities with UST’s expertise in digital engineering, AI, and technology transformation, we’re building a platform to help shape the future of mobility."

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It's still unknown how much Italdesign was sold for, and how much of a stake Audi still retains, but last year the automaker said it would be a “strategic partner” for the long term and an “important” client of the design firm.

Italdesign was founded in 1968 by designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and engineer Aldo Mantovani. The company’s extensive credit roll includes a clutch of iconic supercars, including the DMC DeLorean, Lotus Esprit, and the BMW M1 supercar.

One could argue Italdesign’s work at the more affordable end of the spectrum has been even more influential, with the original Volkswagen Golf, and the Fiat Panda, Punto and Uno all penned by the company.

Other credits include the first-generation Daewoo Matiz, Hyundai Excel, Lancia Delta, Audi 80, and Lexus GS.

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Volkswagen purchased 90 per cent of Italdesign in 2010, with the remaining 10 per cent kept by Giorgetto Giugiaro and his family. In order to keep its Italian holdings together, Italdesign was placed with Lamborghini under Audi ownership.

Mr Giugiaro and his son sold their remaining stake to Volkswagen in 2015, and left the firm to set up their own design consultancy.

Under Volkswagen ownership, Italdesign continued to work with other automakers but the volume of commissioned products has slowed significantly. Cars developed since 2010 include the Audi Q2, the limited-edition Nissan GT-R50, and the Voyah Free for Chinese automaker Dongfeng.

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