Bugatti Chiron Stolen with Keys Inside, Traced by Telemetry

Mate Rimac's personal Bugatti Chiron Sport, registration CRO-BUG, was taken from the unfenced Rimac Campus in Sveta Nedelja on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, with the key fob left inside. Live telemetry from the Chiron plotted the car's movements across Slovenia into Austria, and police recovered the vehicle hours later.

The car is a one-of-500 Chiron Sport finished in dark blue exposed carbon fiber, carrying a red number 16 on the horseshoe grille and Croatian tricolour flags beneath the wing mirrors. Rimac has described its market value as 3,000,000 euros (approximately $3,300,000). Beneath the bodywork sits an 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16 rated at 1,500 PS (1,479 hp) and 1,600 Nm (1,180 lb-ft) of torque. The Chiron Sport weighs 1,978 kg (4,361 lbs) — 18 kg (40 lbs) lighter than the standard model — and is credited with 0 to 100 kph in 2.4 seconds and a top speed of 420 kph (261 mph). Performance figures published by the manufacturer also include 200 kph in 6.1 seconds and 300 kph in 13.1 seconds.

Rimac and his engineering team monitored live server logs for speed, coordinates and fuel level as the car crossed borders; those telemetry feeds were central to the multi-national recovery operation.

The theft and the cross-border recovery

Rimac published security-camera footage and an account of events on Instagram, saying a 36-year-old Croatian man who had approached the campus claiming to seek work entered the parked car and drove away. Rimac said he had grown accustomed to leaving key fobs in vehicles to simplify testing and handovers on the open campus, which was intentionally built without perimeter fences.

Colleagues noticed an unfamiliar driver and a group chat confirmed the Chiron was missing. The thief headed toward Slovenia; at one point the live telemetry showed the fuel gauge falling, then a brief refuel at a Slovenian station where, according to authorities, the driver allegedly left without paying. The chase continued into Austria, and Styrian motorway police boxed the Chiron in at a Seiersberg service station on the A9 Pyhrn motorway shortly after 7:00 PM.

Rimac drove to the scene in his Porsche 911 rather than the Rimac Nevera he also owns. Austrian officers followed procedure and had the car winched onto a flatbed. Croatian, Slovenian and Austrian police coordinated the interception; an Austrian officer participated in the Rimac team’s group chat to share live GPS locations during the pursuit.

Aftermath and legal outcome

At the Styrian police station Rimac met the 36-year-old suspect, who Rimac described as distressed and troubled. Prosecutors in both Austria and Croatia have automatic jurisdiction in cross-border theft cases, but authorities released the suspect to defend himself at liberty. Rimac said he declined to press private charges. The Chiron sustained only minor cosmetic damage that Rimac said Molsheim’s craftsmen will be able to repair.

Rimac told followers he will stop leaving keys in vehicles, though he does not plan to erect perimeter fences at the campus. The incident underlined how modern hypercars act as rolling telemetry platforms and how that connectivity can be used by owners and enforcement agencies in vehicle recovery operations.