Bugatti's CEO left keys inside a Chiron and ended up stolen

Bugatti's CEO left keys inside a Chiron and ended up stolen

Bugatti Rimac leader Mate Rimac saw his Chiron stolen after leaving the keys in the car, which led him to abandon this dangerous habit. But they're not the only unusual contours of the case.

© David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images


05/11/2026
by

Bernardo Matias

Kill Rimac, executive director of Bugatti Rimac, saw one Chiron being stolen from you recently. He was able to recover the car in a short time, in a situation that led him to abandon a recommended habit – leave the keys inside the cars.

 

The Croatian businessman said in a social media video that he feels that his country – Croatia – is very safe and so he has always been very calm from this point of view. And he revealed: “I always leave the keys inside my cars, including Chiron, Nevera and many other cars. I did it for years and nothing ever happened until, of course, it happened. So, i won't do it anymore and don’t risk your luck.”.

According to Mate Rimac, it is common for friends or colleagues of the company to take the car – for example to move it or to take tests. Thus, he considered it easier to leave the keys inside, considering being “always in meetings and busy”. And the Bugatti Rimac campus doesn't even have any fences to take on as an inviting place to visit.

How did the robbery happen?

Bugatti's leader then told how the crime happened: “The car was abroad, the individual went in and took the car. And the most amazing thing is that we wouldn't have noticed because many of my friends and colleagues at the company use the car. Most of the time I don't even know who it is. [...]. We only noticed because someone came in and said, “I saw this person driving your car, probably stole it.”.

After the message spreads, Mate Rimac called the police and, thanks to the telemetry of the car – which includes the location – it was possible to detect it. The businessman took his Porsche 911 and left in pursuit of the thief – hoping he would be caught in the meantime on leaving the Croatian borders. Right is that the criminal arrived in Austria, where the police finally managed to reach him.

The recovery of the car was a more complex process than would be expected due to its high value, having first to be transported by the authorities to Mate Rimac for proof of ownership. When he was in the police station, he was able to meet the thief – a Croatian man in his 30s who “has a troubled past”.

And the strong man from the Rimac Group received the explanation: “He said he came to the company to ask for a job, and then he saw the car with the keys inside – as if it were my fault – and he simply took the car and had the idea of going to Germany for some reason. The fact that he stole a Bugatti, and this one in particular, told me this person has problems. I didn't want to press charges, but as he committed a crime like that, with such a high value – it costs millions of euros – he's going to be charged by the police croatian and Austrian. So I hope this individual will be all right.”.

Bugatti is no longer connected to Volkswagen and Porsche

After almost 30 years, Bugatti follows separate routes from the Volkswagen Group, with Rimac buying the remaining shares Porsche had in the French brand of origin. The deal had already been announced, but only now has it been approved.

Bernardo Matias

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