Bugatti chief promises never to leave keys in cars again after Chiron theft

The theft and the chase

Croatian Bugatti chief Mate Rimac has promised never to leave keys inside his cars again after his Chiron was stolen and recovered — with him personally having to chase the thief in a Porsche. He spoke about it on Thursday in an Instagram video, standing in front of the car, AFP reports.

How events unfolded

The car, with a base price of 2.4 million euros, was stolen on Wednesday from the company's production and technology campus near Zagreb. The theft was discovered after someone alerted staff that an unknown person had driven off in the Chiron. Rimac immediately notified the police, tracked the car via telemetry — it was heading toward Slovenia — and set off in pursuit in his Porsche 911. Location updates were shared with the police in a group chat, which helped Austrian officers locate and detain the suspect.

The suspect and the aftermath

The suspect is a Croatian man aged around 35, whom Rimac met at a police station in Austria. According to Rimac, the man explained that he had come to the company looking for a job and took the car after seeing the keys inside. Rimac does not intend to press charges, but warned that the suspect will still face trial because of the car's high value:

Context

“I'm so proud that Croatia is so safe that I'm very relaxed — I always leave the keys in my cars, including the Chiron and the Nevera. I've been doing it for years and nothing ever happened, until it happened now, so I won't be doing that anymore — and don't tempt fate,” said the 38-year-old Rimac. Bugatti is part of the joint venture Bugatti Rimac, in which the Croatian Rimac Group holds 55 percent; the remaining 45 percent was acquired in September by a consortium led by the American investment firm HOF Capital after Porsche's exit, and Mate Rimac serves as CEO. The Chiron was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016; Bugatti limited the top speed of the 1,500-horsepower car to 420 km/h.