Indian car company Mahindra & Mahindra is expected to buy legendary Italian design house Pininfarina in the coming weeks.
News of the purchase first leaked in March and was confirmed by Pininfarina’s majority shareholder Pincar. Now Automotive News Europe is reporting that a deal is imminent. It is the hope of both parties that the deal would help Pininfarina get back in the black.
The firm has been losing money for more than a decade. Its net debt was $56,752,630 as of the first half of 2015. Reasons cited include the fact that most automakers today prefer to keep design in-house, rather than farm it out to a firm specializing in design. Three years ago, Pininfarina shut down its automaking division that built cars for other manufacturers.
Pininfarina was founded in 1930 by Battista “Pinin” Farina and is based Turin, Italy. It is perhaps most well-known for the many Ferraris they have penned — including the 330, Dino, Daytona, Testarossa, F40 and Enzo. However, the firm has also designed many cars for other automakers, including Rolls Royce, Cadillac, Opel, Ford, Jaguar, MG, Nissan, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Maserati.
Live images by Andrew Ganz.
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