Pininfarina

Infobox_Company
company_name = Pininfarina SpA
company_
company_type = Public (ISE|IT0003056386|PINF)
company_slogan =
foundation = 1930
location = Cambiano, Italy
key_people = Sergio Pininfarina
Honorary Chairman

Paolo Pininfarina
Chairman and CEO

Lorenza Pininfarina
Vice-Chairman
industry = Automotive
num_employees = 3,562 (2006)
revenue =
net_income =
homepage = [http://www.pininfarina.com Pininfarina.com]
:"See also Battista Farina, founder of the company, his son Sergio Pininfarina and grandson Andrea Pininfarina."

Pininfarina S.p.A. (ISE|IT0003056386|PINF) (short for "Carozzeria Pininfarina") is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy, founded in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina (following the company, his family name became Pininfarina in 1961, as a result of combining his nickname and surname).

Over the years the company has been employed by many automobile manufacturers, notably Ferrari, Maserati, Cadillac, Nash, Peugeot, Jaguar, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, MG, Cisitalia, and Lancia. Since the 1980s Pininfarina has also provided industrial design and interior design consultation to corporate clients. Furthermore, over the years the company has designed trams (e.g. those in Lille), trains (e.g. Dutch domestic high-speed trains currently being built), and trolleys (e.g. Boston Green Line).Until his death on August 7, 2008, Pininfarina was run by Battista's grandson Andrea Pininfarina: Paolo Pininfarina, Andrea's younger brother, was appointed new chairman and CEO on 12 August 2008Cite web|url=http://www.pininfarina.com/index/finanza/financialNews.html?index.php&p=584|title=Pininfarina Group: Appointments of New Officers and New Assignments in the Sign of Corporate Continuity] . The Pininfarina Group employs more than 3,000 people in subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco and China.

Pininfarina is registered and publicly traded on the Borsa Italiana (Milan Stock Exchange).

Pininfarina in the USA

After World War II, a number of automotive manufacturers were interested in working with Pininfarina, whose highly innovative Cisitalia 202 design had attracted wide attention.Cite web|url=http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2002/autobodies/cisitalia.html|title=Pinin Farina Cisitalia "202" GT at MoMA|accessdate=2007-04-29|work=moma.org]

The subsequent cooperation with Nash Motors resulted in high-volume production of Pininfarina designs and provided a major entree into the United States market. In 1952, Pininfarina 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 Pininfarina's design, were largely designed by Nash's then-new in-house styling staff when the original Farina-designed model proved unsuited to American tastes. The Nash-Healey sports car body was, however, completely designed and assembled in limited numbers from 1952 to 1954 at Pininfarina'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 marketing efforts, Pininfarina became well-known in the United States.

A similar arrangement was repeated in the late 1980s when Pininfarina designed (and partially assembled) the Cadillac Allanté for General Motors. The car's bodies were assembled and painted in Italy before being flown to Detroit for final vehicle assembly.

Pininfarina Sverige AB

Pininfarina Sverige AB in Uddevalla, Sweden, was established in 2003 as a joint venture (JV) between Volvo Cars and Pininfarina. The JV is owned 60% by Pininfarina and 40% by Volvo.

The C70 model -- the first car built by the joint venture- - was launched on 13 April 2006, sharing the Volvo P1 platform used in the S40. This vehicle, designed by John Kinsey, is a coupé convertible featuring a three piece retractable metal hardtop that can raise or lower in less than 30 seconds. The new C70 replaces both the current cabriolet/convertible and the coupé absent from Volvo's lineup since 2003. For the first time, the C70 will be offered with a normally-aspirated gasoline engine, as well as diesel engines with variable geometry turbocharger and common-rail direct injection.

Prototype and custom vehicles

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- have served solely as concept cars, although several have become production models, including the Ferrari 612 and Ferrari F50.

A recent privately-commissioned custom example was the Ferrari P4/5 of 2006, a one-car rebody (changing 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 though the engine, drivetrain and many other components are simply 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 August 18, 2006 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elégance 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 possibly make airbags obsolete.

Notable designs

:1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300:1936 Lancia Aprilia:1938 Lancia Astura:1948 Cisitalia 202:1952 Ferrari 250:1952 Nash Ambassador:1952 Nash-Healey:1953 Four Berlinetta and one Spyder version of the Maserati A6GCS/53:1955 Peugeot 403:1955 Ferrari 410 Superamerica:1956 Austin A40 Farina:1957 Lancia Flaminia:1958 BMC Farina cars - Austin A55 Cambridge Mk II, MG Magnette Mk III, Morris Oxford V, Riley 4/68, Wolseley 15/60:1959 Fiat 1800/2100:1960 Peugeot 404:1961 Fiat 2300:1964 Ferrari 275:1965 Dino 206:1965 MGB GT:1966 IKA-Renault Torino:1966 Alfa Romeo 1600 Spider Duetto:1966 Ferrari 330 GTC:1966 Fiat 124 Spider:1966 Datsun 411:1966 Fiat Dino Spider:1967 Proposal for replacement for BMC 1800 (ADO17):1967 Proposal for replacement for BMC 1100 (ADO16):1968 Ferrari Daytona:1968 Peugeot 504 Cabriolet and Coupe:1971 Fiat 130 Coupe:1973 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB:1975 Lancia Montecarlo:1975 Ferrari 308:1975 Rolls-Royce Camargue:1976 Peugeot Peugette:1978 Jaguar XJ6:1983 Peugeot 205:1984 Ferrari Testarossa:1984 Ferrari 288 GTO:1984 Honda HP-X concept car [ [http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z2397/Honda_HP-X.aspx 1984 Honda HP-X concept] , retrieved on August 7, 2008.] :1985 Peugeot 205 Cabriolet:1985 Ferrari 328:1987 Alfa Romeo 164:1987 Cadillac Allanté:1987 Ferrari F40:1987 Peugeot 405:1989 Ferrari Mythos:1989 Ferrari 348:1992 Jaguar XJ220 - Rebodied an unknown number of cars:1994 Fiat Coupé:1994 Ferrari F355:1995 Alfa Romeo GTV & Spider:1995 Ferrari F355 Spider:1995 MG F - Roof Structure only.:1996 Lancia Kappa SW:1997 Peugeot 306 Cabriolet:1997 Peugeot 406 Coupé:1999 Songhuajiang Hafei Zhongyi:1999 Mitsubishi Pajero:2000 Daewoo Tacuma:2000 Ferrari 550 Barchetta:2000 Ferrari 360 Spider:2000 Hispano Habit:2001 Citroën Osée:2001 Hyundai Matrix:2002 Ferrari 575M Maranello:2002 Enzo Ferrari:2002 Daewoo Lacetti:2002 Hafei Lobo:2003 Maserati Quattroporte:2004 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti:2005 Peugeot 1007:2005 Maserati Birdcage 75th:2006 Mitsubishi Colt CZC:2006 Volvo C70:2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano:2006 Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina:2007 Brilliance BS4:2007 Ford Focus CC by Pininfarina:2008 Maserati GranTurismo:2008 Pininfarina Hyperion (Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe by Pininfarina):2008 Pininfarina B0 Electric Car

Product design

Pininfarina also works with other companies such as SimpleTech for product design.Cite news|url=http://www.slashgear.com/new-drives-from-simpletech-designed-by-pininfarina-104703.php|title=New drives from SimpleTech designed by Pininfarina|accessdate=2007-05-10|publisher=Slashgear]

Among Pininfarina's notable product designs are the Torino 2006 Olympic torch and two luxury appliance collections for Gorenje.Cite news|url=http://www.gorenjepininfarina.com|title=Gorenje Pinifarina|accessdate=2008-08-06|publisher=Gorenje]

Pininfarina Extra

Pininfarina Extra, founded in 1986, is the Pininfarina Group design company which does not work in the transport sector. Examples include:
* The Keating Hotel in San Diego, California

Alternative propulsion

Pininfarina has an area dedicated to the new electric car Pininfarina Bolloré. Batteries are produced by Bolloré Group. [ [http://www.pininfarina.com/index/storiaModelli/Auto-Elettrica Pininfarina | Electric car ] ] [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121002128666768637.html Start-Ups Race to Produce 'Green' Cars - WSJ.com ] ]

ee also

* Car design
* Car safety

*Karmann in Germany
*Magna Steyr in Austria
*Bertone in Italy
*Heuliez in France
*Valmet Automotive in Finland

Notes

External links

* [http://www.pininfarina.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.pininfarina.se/ Pininfarina Sverige]
* [http://www.chryslerheritage.com/mag5_win01.pdf Foster, Patrick R. "Nashes With an Italian Accent", FORWARD: The American Heritage of DaimlerChrysler, Winter 2001, pages 33-7.]
* [http://www.landcrab.net/mainframes/main_pinafarina1800.htm BMC 1800 & 1100] - detail on these extremely influential design proposals
* [http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2002/autobodies/cisitalia.html The Cisitalia 2002] at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
* [http://www.thekeating.com The Keating Hotel in downtown San Diego.
* [http://www.coachbuild.com/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=50&g2_itemId=136 Pininfarina @ coachbuild.com]