Indian manufacturer Mahindra has agreed to buy out Italian design house and coachbuilder Pininfarina within the next few weeks.
Pininfarina had been operating at a loss for some years and had racked up a debt of €52.7 million (£37m). Negotiations between Pininfarina’s creditor banks, the main Pininfarina shareholder Pincar and Mahindra have culminated in the deal, which includes the selling of Pincar’s shares and reorganising the company debts.
Pininfarina was founded in 1930 and has designed most famously for Ferrari, but also for Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and others, as well as recently redesigning Eurostar's trains. In spite of its widespread work, it was arguably the design house’s intrinsic connection with Ferrari that cemented its name in the car design hall of fame and made it a household name.
Having designed around 100 Ferrari models, founder Sergio Pininfarina’s death in 2012 prompted the design house to commission a one-off, Ferrari 458 Spider-based model, named after Pininfarina and also marking 60 years of Pininfarina’s relationship with Ferrari. The model was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in 2013 and featured at the Geneva show in 2015, after being signed off for a limited production run of six units.
No details have been released about Mahindra’s plans after the acquisition, but Pininfarina has been valued at around €149m (£105m).
Jimi Beckwith (Autocar UK)