Rimac ends cooperation with Camel Group
A spokeswoman for the Croatian sports car manufacturer confirmed the end of the collaboration to the German publication WirtschaftsWoche. The joint venture with Camel is “currently in the process of being terminated”. The background to this is that, according to the US Department of Homeland Security, the Camel Group is one of 71 Chinese companies accused of being involved in the forced labour of Uyghurs in China. Products from these 71 companies, including components from suppliers, may not be imported into the USA.
The cooperation between Rimac and the Camel Group dates back to 2018, when Rimac was still a long way from series production of the now Nevera model. According to information at the time, Rimac was to hold a 40 per cent stake in a joint venture, but only paid a fraction of the total investment – as the Croatian company also contributed its technology. However, it was already clear in 2018 that the joint plant would be built in the Uyghur-populated region of Xiangyang.
Camel is also a supplier to the Volkswagen Group, which has not yet terminated the cooperation. Rimac is, however, linked to the VW Group, as Porsche holds around 20 per cent of the shares and there is close development cooperation. VW has also brought the Bugatti luxury brand into a joint venture with Rimac.
VW confirmed to the business magazine that “a Chinese subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group has a business relationship with a subsidiary of the Camel Group”. However, the VWs built in China with Camel components, as the company mainly manufactures hybrid and starter batteries for combustion engines, are not to be exported by VW itself, so they will probably remain on the Chinese market.
0 Comments