De Tomaso sells Deauville production rights to China

We all got a little excited when news emerged that De Tomaso was being reborn. After all, what could it hurt to have another storied Italian exotic automaker in the world, right? But then came the Deauville.

Though the Pininfarina-penned shape wasn't exactly hate-worthy, the emergence of a crossover to revive the De Tomaso marque was rather disappointing. The architect of the company's revival, veteran auto exec Gian Mario Rossignolo, promised more exciting products to come, but nearly a year later we've yet to see anything more.

This latest development could come as good news, then, even if it seems bad at first. Rossignolo has reportedly sold the rights to the Deauville's production to a Chinese company. Considering that it has, for the time being, been the only product De Tomaso has shown, that would seem to mean the entire house of cards has come crashing down. But, looking at it another way, Rossignolo and company have just managed to raise some 12 million euros (over $15 million) to (hopefully) finance the production of the Pantera, all the while offloading the burden of the lackluster Deauville at the same time.