The company I have been assigned for this assessment is Pininfarina.

So, you may be wondering who Pininfarina is and what they do. Good news for you is, as it is the company I have been assigned, I have done some research and will now give you a little snippet into Pininfarina.

Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina founded Carrozzeria Pinin Farina on 22 May 1930 in Turin, Italy. The company was designed to build special car bodies for individuals or small production runs. So initially, the company was solely an automotive company (more on this a bit later).

At the 1930 Paris Motor Show, Battista exhibited some of his designs for Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Isotta-Fraschini and Fiat.

It wasn’t until 1931, at the Concours d’Elegance in Villa d’Este that Battista showcased his first official Pinin Farina special titled The Lancia Dilambda. Other accomplishments in the 1930’s included the Hispano Suiza Coupé and the Fiat 518 Ardita.

Moving forward a couple of decades to the 1950s, after designing the likes of the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S, Lancia Aprilia Cabriolet, Cisitalia 202 (now sitting in New York’s Museum of Modern Art), and many more, it was time for Pinin and Enzo Ferrari to join ventures and create some breathtaking beauties (for the era). What beauties might I be talking about? Feast your eyes on the Ferrari 212 and Ferrari 250 GT.

Jumping to the 60s, at the ripe age of 68, Battista legally changed his family name to Pininfarina (a practice which was very unusual at the time). This concreted the Pininfarina name into the automotive world. In 1963, at the Paris Motor Show, (take a deep breath) the Chevrolet Corvette Rondine debuted. Unfortunately, on 3 April 1966, Battista Pininfarina passed away and his son Sergio became Chairman of the company.

In the 80s, the company started to expand its market in which design concepts were being offered for customers. In 1986, Pininfarina Extra was created and this is where the company started to design other modes of transportation and ventured into industrial design.

In the 90s, Pininfarina Deutschland GmbH was set up and operated in the German markets of car engineering, tooling and model making. Between 1992 and 1994, Pininfarina renewed itself in the automotive market with the manufacturing of four new models: the Ferrari 456 GT, the Coupé Fiat, the Peugeot 306 Cabriolet and the Bentley Azure. In 1996, two new models were added to the production list, the Lancia k Station Wagon and the Peugeot 406 Coupé.

Jumping into the 2000s, the inauguration of the Engineering Centre of Cambiano introduced Pininfarina into the Engineering market for third parties. Continuing with the company expansion, Pininfarina Sverige AB established itself in Sweden nabbing a joint venture with Volvo Cars and was responsible for the production of the new generation convertible Volvos.

In 05, Pininfarina rekindled their partnership with Maserati and showcased the Maserati Birdcage 75th at the Geneva Motor Show where it won the Best Concept Award. 3 years on, and partnering with Bolloré, Pininfarina continued to explore their innovative side and developed the first Italian electric car; the Pininfarina Sintesi Concept. Around 2008, the company decided to reintroduce their roots and design exclusive one-offs like the Rolls Royce Hyperion.

Moving into the 2010 decade, Pininfarina celebrated 80 years of production with the Alfa Romeo Spider 2uettottanta. In 2012, Life Senator Sergio Pininfarina passed away however was celebrated in 2013 at the Geneva Motor Show with the Ferrari Sergio. The partnership between Pininfarina and Ferrari blossomed with the release of the: FF,  458 Spider, F12berlinetta, 458 Speciale, California T.

Jumping to 2019, Pininfarina continues to stay in touch with its roots of designing one-offs and production of very small series or exclusive high-quality cars. They did it 90 years ago and they are still doing it today. Pininfarina are a well-known, reputable name in the automotive industry and are making their mark in the Engineering and Design markets.

Please find below a video from Pininfarina outlining who they are:

Please note all information was obtained from: https://pininfarina.it/en/heritage-designstory/#1930