Pininfarina

Pininfarina S.p.A. (/pɪnɪnfəˈriːnə/; Italian: [pininfaˈrina]; short for Pininfarina Società per Azioni) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian multinational Mahindra Group acquired 76.06% of Pininfarina S.p.A. for about €168 million.
Pininfarina is employed by a wide variety of automobile manufacturers to design vehicles. These firms have included long-established customers such as Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Fiat, GM, Lancia, and Maserati, to emerging companies in the Asian market with Chinese manufactures like AviChina, Chery, Changfeng, Brilliance, JAC and VinFast in Vietnam and Korean manufacturers Daewoo and Hyundai.
Since the 1980s, Pininfarina has also designed high-speed trains, buses, trams, rolling stocks, automated light rail cars, people movers, yachts, airplanes, and private jets. Since the 1986 creation of "Pininfarina Extra", it has consulted on industrial design, interior design, architecture, and graphic design. Pininfarina was run by Battista's son Sergio Pininfarina until 2001, then his grandson Andrea Pininfarina until he died in 2008. After Andrea's death, his younger brother Paolo Pininfarina was appointed CEO.
At its height in 2006, the Pininfarina Group employed 2,768 people, with subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, Morocco, and the United States. As of 2012, with the end of the automotive production series, employment has shrunk to 821. Pininfarina is registered and publicly traded on the Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana.
When automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina broke away from his brother's coachbuilding firm, Stabilimenti Farina, in 1928, he founded "Carrozzeria Pinin Farina" with financial help from his wife's family and Vincenzo Lancia. That first year, the firm employed eighteen and built 50 automobile bodies.
On 22 May 1930 papers were filed to become a corporation, Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina headquartered in Turin, Italy, at 107 Corso Trapani. During the 1930s, the company built bodies for Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Isotta Fraschini, Hispano-Suiza, Fiat, Cadillac, and Rolls-Royce. With its close relationship with Lancia, the pioneer of the monocoque in automobile design, Farina became the first coachbuilder to build bodies for the new technique also known as unibody construction. This development happened in the mid-1930s when others saw the frameless construction as the end of the independent coachbuilder.
In 1939, World War II ended automobile production, but the company had 400 employees building 150 bodies monthly. The war effort against the Allies brought work making ambulances and searchlight carriages. The Pinin Farina factory was destroyed by Allied bombers, ending the firm's operations.
After the war, Italy was banned in 1946 Paris Motor Show. The Paris show was attended by 809,000 visitors (twice the pre-war figure), and queues stretched from the main gate to the Seine. Pinin Farina and his son Sergio, determined to defy the ban, drove two of their cars (an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S and a Lancia Aprilia cabriolet) from Turin to Paris and found a place at the entrance to the exhibition to display the two new creations. The managers of the Grand Palais said of the display, "the devil Pinin Farina", but to the press and the public, it was the successful "Turin coachbuilder's anti-salon".
At the end of 1945, the Cisitalia 202 Coupé was designed. An elegantly proportioned design with a low hood, it is the car that usually is given credit for establishing Pinin Farina's reputation. The Pinin Farina design was honored in the Museum of Modern Art's landmark presentation "Eight Automobiles" in 1951. A total of 170 Coupés were produced by Pinin Farina.
The publicity of the Museum of Modern Art exhibit brought Pinin Farina to the attention of Nash-Kelvinator managers. The subsequent cooperation with Nash Motors resulted in high-volume production of Pinin Farina designs and provided a significant entry into the United States market. In 1952, Farina visited the U.S. for the unveiling of his design for the Nash Ambassador and Statesman lines, which, although they did carry some details of Pinin Farina's design, were primarily designed by Nash's then-new in-house styling staff when the original Farina-designed model proved unsuited to American tastes, exhibiting a popular 1950s appearance called "ponton". The Nash-Healey sports car body was, however, completely designed and assembled with Nash drivetrains in limited numbers from 1952 until 1954 at Pinin Farina's Turin facilities. Nash heavily advertised its link to the famous Italian designer, much as Studebaker promoted its longtime association with Raymond Loewy. As a result of Nash's million advertising campaign, Pinin Farina became well known in the U.S.
Pinin Farina also built the bodies for the limited-series Cadillac Eldorado Brougham for General Motors in 1959 and 1960. They were assembled in Italy and shipped back to the U.S. There were 99 Broughams built in 1959 and 101 in 1960. A similar arrangement was repeated in the late 1980s when Pininfarina designed (and partially assembled) the Cadillac Allanté at the San Giusto Canavese factory. The car bodies were assembled and painted in Italy before being flown from the Turin International Airport to Detroit for final vehicle assembly.
It started in 1951 with a meeting at a restaurant in Tortona, a small town halfway between Turin and Modena. This neutral territory was chosen because neither Farina nor Enzo Ferrari wanted to meet at the other's headquarters. Battista's son, Sergio Pininfarina recalled, "It is not difficult to imagine how I felt that afternoon when my father, without taking his eyes off the road for one moment, told me his decision as we drove back to Turin: "From now on you'll be looking after Ferrari, from A to Z. Design, engineering, technology, construction—the lot!"—I was over the moon with happiness."
Since that meeting, a 61-year relationship endured where the only road-going production Ferrari not designed by Pininfarina was the 1973 Dino 308 GT4. Their relationship was so close that Pininfarina became a partner of Ferrari in "Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC", the organization that ran Ferrari's race team from 1961 until 1989, Pinin was a vice president of Ferrari, and Sergio later sat on Ferrari's board of directors.
However, this special relationship came to an end with the 2012-17 Ferrari F12berlinetta, the last model entirely penned by Pininfarina, while Centro Stile Ferrari has designed each car since 2013's LaFerrari.
From 1954 until 1955, Pinin Farina purchased land in Grugliasco, outside Turin, for a new factory. "The factory in no way would look like the one of Corso Trapani. It would be a car no longer on my measurements but those of my children, built looking like them; I had this in mind and wanted it," said Farina.
Around the same time, Alfa Romeo accepted Pininfarina's design over Bertone for the new Giulietta Spider. The Alfa was the first vehicle that Pinin Farina produced in large numbers. Alfa Romeo chose Pinin Farina to make the Spider mainly because they felt confident they could produce 20 cars daily for a run of 1,000 bodies. The Spider was a massive success for Alfa Romeo and Pinin Farina. Max Hoffman, the importer for the United States, said he could sell as many as they could make. In 1958, the first year of production, they produced 1,025 units, which then expanded to over 4,000 units in 1959, the first full year of the new Grugliasco factory.
Starting with planning the new plant in Grugliasco in 1956, Farina began to groom his replacements–Sergio, his son, and Renzo Carli, his son-in-law. To his heirs apparent, Farina said of the Corso Trapani facility, "This old plant has reached the limits of its growth. It has no room for expansion and is far from being up to date. If I were alone, I'd leave it as it is. But I want you to decide which way to go–to stay as we are or to enlarge. Either way is fine with me. It's your decision, and I don't want to know what it is. I'm finished, and it's your time to take over. The future is absolutely up to you." In 1958, upon leaving for a world tour, Farina added, "In my family, we inherit our legacies from live people–not from the dead."
In 1961, at 68, "Pinin" Farina formally turned his firm over to his son, Sergio, and his son-in-law, Renzo Carli. The same year, the President of Italy formally authorized the change of Farina's last name to Pininfarina, and the business took on the same name.
Pininfarina was run by Battista's grandson Andrea Pininfarina from 2001 until he died in 2008. Andrea's younger brother Paolo Pininfarina was appointed successor. Paolo died in April 2024.
Starting in the mid-1960s, Pininfarina started investing in the science of automotive design, a strategy to differentiate itself from the other Italian coachbuilders.
In 1966, Pininfarina opened the Studies and Research Centre (Studi e Ricerche) in Grugliasco. The research centre occupied 8,000 sq. metres (2 acres) and employed 180 technicians to produce 25 prototypes yearly.
The Calculation and Design Centre was set up in 1967, the first step in the process of technological evolution that, during the 1970s, would take Pininfarina into the lead in automated bodywork design.
Then in 1972 construction of a full-sized wind tunnel was completed. The project was started in 1966. When it opened, it was the first wind tunnel with the ability to test full-sized cars in Italy and one of the first in the world with this ability. For example, GM's full-sized wind tunnel did not open until 1980.
The 1980s started a period of expansion for Pininfarina.
In 1982, the company opened "Pininfarina Studi e Ricerche" in Cambiano. It was separate from the factory and wind tunnel in Grugliasco to keep design and research activities independent from manufacturing. On 14 October 2002, Pininfarina inaugurated a new engineering center. The new facility, built at the Cambiano campus, gave greater visibility and independence to the engineering operations.
In 1983, Pininfarina reached an agreement with General Motors to design and build the Cadillac Allanté. The Allanté project led to the building of the San Giorgio factory in 1985.
In 1996, Mitsubishi entered into talks for Pininfarina to build their new compact SUV, the Pajero, in Italy. While Mitsubishi recognized Pininfarina's expertise in design and engineering, the reason for choosing them was that manufacturing costs were half of those in Germany. After entering into an agreement in 1996, Pininfarina purchased an industrial site at Bairo Canavese near Turin, Italy. in April 1997, Bairo Canavese was dedicated to the production of the new Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin.
Pininfarina Sverige AB in Uddevalla, Sweden, was established in 2003 as a joint venture (JV) between Volvo Cars and Pininfarina to produce a new Volvo convertible that will be sold in Europe and the United States. The JV is owned 60% by Pininfarina and 40% by Volvo. The C70 model designed by Volvo's John Kinsey—was launched on 13 April 2006, sharing the Volvo P1 platform used in the S40.
Pininfarina has helped to plan multi-family residences with Cyrela Real Estate. Related Group, and commercial projects with Bosque Real, Roadside Development, and Higold Group. They were also involved in the construction of the Istanbul and Santiago international airports and Juventus Arena. In 2016 Pininfarina, in collaboration with Reflex, created the Segno furniture Collection; an integrated modular system. They have also collaborated with Italian wood distributor Corà Parquet, to develop wooden flooring surfaces as well as Higold on a line of outdoor furniture.
In April 2008, after three years of serious losses totaling 115 million euros at the end of 2007, Pininfarina made the first of several moves to raise capital and restructure its enormous debt:
On 29 April 2008 Pininfarina announced Piero Ferrari, Alberto Bombassei (chairman of Brembo), and the Marsiaj family (founders of the Sabelt seatbelt company), would join with Vincent Bolloré, a French financier, and Ratan Tata, head of India's Tata Group conglomerate, who already announced their plans to invest, would together invest €100 million. Funding would come through the sale of stock to other investors. The Pininfarina family was willing to reduce its share from 55% to 30%, which would still be enough to secure a controlling interest. On 31 December 2008, Pininfarina announced a debt restructuring that would require the family to sell its stake in the company. The agreement was made after Pininfarina's value dropped 67% during 2008, with a market capitalization of about €36 million. It had total debt of €598 million at the end of November. Of that amount, €555 million was the subject of the debt restructuring agreement that was agreed on with a consortium of banks. Pincar, Pininfarina's family holding company, announced on 24 March 2009 that it had hired investment bank Leonardo & Co. to find a buyer for its 50.6% stake in Pininfarina per the debt restructuring agreement reached in December. In a statement released on 15 February 2012, the company said its debt repayment date had been extended to 2018, from 2015. And that the company would take advantage of interest rates "significantly lower than [current] market rates". Pininfarina will remain under the control of the Pininfarina family. Pininfarina also saw its net revenue increase by a million.
In 2013 Pininfarina managed a net profit with an operating loss of 8.2 million euros but a net profit of 32.9 million euros from a one-time gain of approximately 45 million euros.
Mahindra Group, owner of Indian automobile company Mahindra & Mahindra agreed to buy Italian car designer Pininfarina SpA in a deal worth about 168 million euros.
Mahindra group, together with affiliate Tech Mahindra, has a 76% stake in the holding company Pincar for 25.3 million euros. The Indian company will offer the same price for the remaining stock. In addition to buying stock, Mahindra will invest 20 million euros in Pininfarina and provide a guarantee to creditors of 114.5 million euros.
On 10 December 2011, Pininfarina announced it would end all automotive production. In truth, production ended in November 2010 with the conclusion of the contract to produce the Alfa Romeo Brera and Spider at the San Giorgio plant.
Opened in 1958 with nearly 1,000 employees, by 1960 output exceeded 11,000 car bodies. In 2009 Pininfarina sold the factory to Finpiemonte, the public finance of the Piedmont Region, at the price of 14.4 million euro. Finpiemonte, as part of the deal, leases the plant to Gian Mario Rossignolo at a rent per year for six years renewable.
The Grugliasco sale did not include an adjacent structure that houses the wind tunnel.
Opened in 1986 to build Cadillac Allante bodies for General Motors, the same year Pininfarina was first listed on the Stock Exchange in Milan. Automotive production ended at San Giorgio with the conclusion of the Ford production in July 2010 and the Alfa Romeo production in November 2010.
Following the end of contract manufacturing activities, San Giorgio Canavese is being used to produce spare parts for cars manufactured in the past.
Pininfarina opened its third manufacturing plant in 1997. Currently, Pininfarina leases the plant and 57 employees to the Cecomp Group. This agreement to produce 4,000 electric Bolloré Bluecars runs from 1 April 2011 to 31 December 2013. On 13 September 2013 a new lease agreement was announced, this new agreement will run from 1 January 2014 until the end of 2016.
A joint venture between Pininfarina S.p.A. and Volvo Car Corporation began in 2003. Volvo and Pininfarina S.p.A. have agreed to terminate the joint venture agreement regarding Pininfarina Sverige AB and its operations in Uddevalla, Sweden. As of 31 December 2011, the termination of this agreement would result in a 30 million euros fee paid to Pininfarina.
On 25 June 2013, the last Volvo C70 was produced and the Uddevalla assembly plant was closed.
Although Pininfarina rarely gave credit to individuals, many of the designers of the past have become known. That policy seems to have changed in recent years. As of 2021, Pininfarina had more than 700 employees.
Pininfarina designs, manufactures, assembles, and tests prototypes and production vehicles under contract for other automakers.
As of 10 December 2011, Pininfarina announced it would end all mass automotive production with the sale of its 40% stake in the Uddevalla, Sweden plant to Volvo in 2013. In the past, Pininfarina produced cars and car bodies under contract from other automakers. This production includes Pininfarina-designed cars and vehicles designed by others.
Before the war Pininfarina built car bodies primarily for individual customers, many of the bodies were "one offs" and not mass-produced.
In addition to production vehicles, Pininfarina creates prototype, show, and custom cars for auto manufacturers, as well as private clients. Most prototypes—such as the Ferrari Mythos, were concept cars, although several have become production models, including the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Ferrari F50.
A recent privately commissioned custom example was the Ferrari P4/5 of 2006, a one-car change to the exterior design of the Enzo Ferrari according to the client's specifications. Its design began in September 2005 with sketches by Jason Castriota moving through computer-aided sculpture and stringent wind tunnel testing. More than 200 components were designed especially for the car, including the engine, drivetrain, and other components modified from the original Enzo Ferrari. The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is unchanged from the Enzo it was derived from. The P4/5 was publicly revealed on 18 August 2006 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and shown again at the Paris Motor Show in late September. Another recent prototype is the Pininfarina Nido, a two-seater sub-compact that could make airbags obsolete.
The Pininfarina B0 solar-electric concept, designed with Bolloré was shown at the 2008 Paris Motor Show featuring a range between charges of more than 150 miles (241 km) with an electronically limited 88-mile-per-hour (142 km/h) top speed, and an estimated acceleration to 37 miles per hour (60 km/h) in 6.3 seconds. The car has solar panels on the roof and the nose, while its battery pack is said to last up to 125,000 miles (201,168 km).
On 15 May 2013, Pininfarina announced the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé to be revealed on 24 May at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Pininfarina announced this one-off concept car as the first collaboration between BMW and Pininfarina, but in 1949 BMW commissioned Pininfarina design and build a pbuiltype of the BMW 501—it was rejected for being too modern.
A list of post-WWII cars designed by Pininfarina that went into production.
Pininfarina has an area dedicated to the new electric car Pininfarina Bolloré. Batteries are produced by the French Bolloré Group.
Pininfarina has introduced its electric vehicle concept, the Pininfarina B0 (pronounced "B Zero"). The four-seat hatchback features a solid-state lithium-polymer battery, supercapacitors, and a roof-integrated solar panel to achieve a range of 153 miles (246 km). Developed in partnership with the Bolloré Group, the vehicle was slated for limited production in 2009 as the Bolloré Bluecar.
Pininfarina displayed a turbine-powered plug-in hybrid called the Cambiano at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.
At the 2016 Geneva Motor Show Pininfarina revealed the H2 Speed, an electric sports car concept. The H2 Speed is a hydrogen vehicle with two race-specification electric motors which are fed by a hydrogen fuel cell. The hydrogen power unit was designed by Swiss company GreenGT.
On 27 November 2018, it was announced that Automobili Pininfarina had invested over €20m in Pininfarina design services to support plans for its range of luxury electric cars. This includes design and engineering services for the first Pininfarina-branded performance car which is a luxury electric sports car called the Battista (named after company founder Battista 'Pinin' Farina and originally codenamed PF0). With four electric motors, the car is supposed to be able to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) from a standstill in under two seconds with a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph). Automobili Pininfarina plans to reveal the car at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Further details on the Battista surfaced on 4 March 2019. It has 1900 horsepower, and only 150 will be built. It is also related to the Rimac C Two.
In 2018, Pininfarina also worked with Mahindra to produce the Furio mass transport truck. In 2020, Pininfarina received four Good Design awards for its automotive creations, including the AutoNomia, an autonomous driving simulator, and the Green Motion Residenza electric car refueling station. In 2021, the company debuted its Teorema style of electric vehicle for autonomous driving, that uses the space where a wheel is generally stationed in most cars for additional seating room. They also partnered with Gaussin to create the H2 Racing Truck. In 2022, Pininfarina expanding its retail partner network in North America to include shops in Chicago and Orange County.
Pininfarina has worked within the nautical sector, collaborating with Beneteau, Primatist, Fincantieri, Schaefer, Persico Marine, Wally, and Princess. Pininfarina designed the external livery and interiors of the Eurostar’s e320 train in 2015. Pininfarina was also involved with the design of the new Leitner Station.
Pininfarina designed the Costa Coffee CEM-200 Marlow Self-Serve Espresso Bar. and the Coca-Cola Freestyle. They also partnered with Bovet 1822 on the Flying Tourbillon wristwatch, creating the Bovet by Pininfarina Collection, in addition to Chivas Regal to produce a limited edition 18-year-old scotch whisky. In 2018, Pininfarina partnered with De Rosa to produce the Metamorphosis bicycle. In 2015, Pininfarina partnered with Hexagon Partners to produce the Global Evo CMM. In 2017, the company partnered with Cisco to design the Catalyst 9000 switch. Pininfarina was asked to design a new spray gun for Anest Iwata, creating the Supernova Pininfarina. In 2021, Pininfarina created the “straddle tractor concept” for use in grapevine picking operations.
Pininfarina also works with other companies such as SimpleTech for product design.
Other Pininfarina product designs include the 2006 Winter Olympics torch, cauldron and medals, as well as major appliance collections for Gorenje.
In December 1999, Pininfarina cooperated with Casio and designed a watch under its label, the G-Shock GE-2000. However, the watch received criticism due to its weak strap, which was vulnerable to breaking during regular use.
Pininfarina was a design contractor for the development of the Coca-Cola Freestyle drinks dispenser.
Pininfarina was asked to design a new spray gun for Anest Iwata, creating the Supernova Pininfarina.
Pininfarina designed the 1100 Millecento Residences interiors in Miami, Florida in 2012 and the beachwalk waterfront residences interiors in Hallandale Beach, Florida in 2013.
44°58′10″N 7°45′54″E﻿ / ﻿44.9693628°N 7.7650577°E﻿ / 44.9693628; 7.7650577