Paolo Pininfarina announced to succeed his late brother
These are precarious times for European design studios and coachbuilders, with some of the biggest names in the business facing potential closure. Not even Pininfarina is immune, and the storied Italian studio cannot afford to miss a beat. That's why, only days since the tragic death of its CEO Andrea Pininfarina, the company has already announced his successor.
Rather than hiring from outside, control of the carrozzeria will pass to Paolo Pininfarina, brother of the late Andrea, son of Sergio and grandson of founder Batista "Pinin" Farina. He is shown here attending the funeral for his brother that took place just yesterday. As we reported earlier today, the company is scheduled to unveil its first new vehicle since the tragedy next week at Pebble Beach: the Rolls-Royce Hyperion .
[Source: Automotive News Europe – subs. req'd, Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mehdi Cheddadi 1:04PM (8/12/2008)
damn, attending your bother funeral must suck a lot... :/
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Los 1:57PM (8/12/2008)
Yes, yes it does, I can tell you from experience. Mine was only 20.
Heart really goes out to anyone who has to go through it.
Torrent 1:07PM (8/12/2008)
Can he even design an attractive car? If he's a Pininfarina, the chances are slim. Just an observation.
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Swede 2:13PM (8/12/2008)
The Pininfarinas only manage the company and scoop up the cash, not design cars.
MajorGeek 2:45PM (8/12/2008)
Help me out here. Since they obviously had to talk with him and offer him the job, that means he was multitasking the burial and "greiving" while talking to them about taking the job. If not for anything else, it sure seems like bad taste. If this was a month, or 6, down the road, I could see it. Maybe its consider polite, like when cowboys would marry their brothers wives if their brother died, but still feels weird to me, no?
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taipeileviathan 4:38PM (8/12/2008)
uh... to me your comment merely indicates how weird you are that you'd even think of it this way.
the studio is their family business, it is their grandfather's legacy and bears their name. it is one of the most prominent, loved, and respected names in modern design, and yet it's facing tough times. now is the time more than ever for the younger brother to step up and not let the ball drop. wait a month, or even six?? if we had the president and vp of the US were siblings and the pres unfortunately died, would you expect the USA to be president-less for a month or six?? i'm not even gonna bring up the cowboy marriage comment cuz that really is just plain dumb.
MajorGeek 4:54PM (8/12/2008)
I simply asked someone to answer for me, not to be rude. I don't know much about them, only heard about the one guy lately that died. I could also call you stupid for assuming everyone knows who these people are or that its a family business. Its a big world there bro.