Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Pininfarina to cease contract manufacturing, transfer ownership to banks]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/02/pininfarina-to-cease-contract-manufacturing-transfer-ownership/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/02/pininfarina-to-cease-contract-manufacturing-transfer-ownership/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/02/pininfarina-to-cease-contract-manufacturing-transfer-ownership/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Click above to view the Pininfarina Sintesi in our high-resolution image gallery

It's been a rough few years for Italy's coachbuilders, and times aren't getting any easier. Bertone almost went under before a rescue plan was approved by the courts at the eleventh hour, and now Pininfarina is poised to follow them down the same path. Drowning in nearly €600 million in debt, Pininfarina is set to shut down its contract manufacturing operations and concentrate on its own electric vehicle initiative while the family loses control of its company to the banks.

Although contract manufacturing once constituted the lion's share of business for outfits like Pininfarina, those times are long gone. Pininfarina still makes the Focus Coupe-Cabriolet for Ford and the Brera and Spider for Alfa Romeo, but at levels hovering around a quarter of anticipated output. Instead, the design house will refocus on its joint production of the Bzero electric vehicle with Bollore, targeted to hit the market in 2010-11. Meanwhile, the grandchildren of Battista "Pinin" Farina - recently lead by Andrea Pininfarina (until his death in a tragic accident in August) and now led by his brother Paolo - will transfer 50.4 percent ownership to its creditors in exchange for a €180 million reduction of its debt, to be followed by a further reduction of €70 million in exchange for rights to the name. The family, meanwhile, will retain only 4.5 percent stake in the namesake company, with the remaining shares publicly traded (including some held by Enzo's son Piero Ferrari and some by Tata). The banks, however, will seek no management changes or board seats in exchange for the controlling interest.

Gallery: Pininfarina B0


[Source: Automotive News Europe - Sub. Req.]

Pininfarina to cease contract manufacturing, transfer ownership to banks originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bertonebzerocoachbuildingcontract buildingContractBuildingdesign houseDesignHousepinin farinapininfarinapininfarina bankruptcyPininfarinaBankruptcyFri, 02 Jan 2009 07:58:00 EST<![CDATA[Geneva '08 Preview: Pininfarina releases sketch of Sintesi Concept]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/29/geneva-08-preview-pininfarina-releases-sketch-of-sintesi-conce/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/29/geneva-08-preview-pininfarina-releases-sketch-of-sintesi-conce/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/29/geneva-08-preview-pininfarina-releases-sketch-of-sintesi-conce/#commentsFiled under: , ,

As we promised last month, Pininfarina has hit us with a teaser sketch of the upcoming Sintesi concept car. The show car, which will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, is the first concept the famous Italian design house will have shown in three years.

Sintesi is Italian for "summary", and the concept ties together themes from its last two design studies: the Maserati Birdcage 75th that stopped the Geneva show in 2005, and the Nido city-car from Paris '04. The design for the new Sintesi was directed by Lowie Vermeersch, head of the company's design department. We'll look forward to bringing you more as Pininfarina doles it out, but you can check out their nifty cyber-mag in the meantime by following the link below.

[Source: Pininfarina via AutoWeek]

Gallery: 2005 Pininfarina Maserati Birdcage Concept


Gallery: 2004 Pininfarina Nido Concept


Geneva '08 Preview: Pininfarina releases sketch of Sintesi Concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>genevageneva 2008geneva auto showgeneva motor showGeneva2008GenevaAutoShowGenevaMotorShowpinin farinaPininFarinapininfarina conceptpininfarina sintesiPininfarinaConceptPininfarinaSintesisintesiTue, 29 Jan 2008 13:28:00 EST<![CDATA[Pininfarina reaches cell phone deal with Motorola]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/02/28/pininfarina-extends-cell-phone-deal-with-motorola/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/02/28/pininfarina-extends-cell-phone-deal-with-motorola/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/02/28/pininfarina-extends-cell-phone-deal-with-motorola/#commentsFiled under:

Pininfarina has signed a deal with Motorla to design cellular phones for the company over the next three years. The design house, famous for penning Ferraris and Maseratis, will put ten designers on the job of making mobiles as sleek and sexy as their automotive counterparts. The design house had been dealing with the phonemaker via a short-term agreement under which it tendered two designs per month. Interestingly, cell phones design now makes up 30-percent of Pininfarina's non-automotive business, a medium in which the company only began working in two years ago.

[Source: Reuters UK]

Pininfarina reaches cell phone deal with Motorola originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2006 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>MotorolaPinin FarinaPininFarinaTue, 28 Feb 2006 14:00:00 EST