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 giant 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, Maserati, and NamX, to emerging companies in the Asian market with Chinese manufacturers 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 as CEO.

At its height in 2006, the Pininfarina Group employed 2,768, with subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco and the United States. Pininfarina is registered and publicly traded on the Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana.

In the Beginning

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 a month. 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 World War II

After the war, Italy was banned from the 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 all the way 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 major 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 largely 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 to 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.

Battista Farina

Because of Battista Farina’s car body designs, the Italian automotive industry will always be known for producing fast, luxurious, and iconic cars.

Born in Cortanze d’Asti, Italy in 1893, Farina was nicknamed “Pinin” meaning small/young. Though the name stuck, Battista became a giant of automotive design. At age 11, working at his brother’s body shop, “Stabilimenti Farina,” ignited Battista’s passion for automobiles. At 18, he was assigned his first major design project, creating the radiator for the new Fiat “Zero,” and Battista never looked back.

In 1920, enthralled by the budding American car industry, Battista traveled to Detroit to meet industry titan Henry Ford. Ford was so impressed with the 27 year-old, that he offered him a job on the spot. Battista was flattered by the offer, but chose instead to return to Italy inspired by the dynamism of Ford and the flourishing U.S. auto industry.

Throughout the 1920s, Battista continued to work on and drive innovative designs at his brother’s shop to feed his passion for fast and beautiful automobiles. Battista won the 1921 “Aosta-Gran San Bernardo” race in his own car, setting a track record that went unbroken for 11 years. At these tracks, Battista met future colleague, Enzo Ferrari. In 1930, Battista founded “Carrozzeria Pinin Farina,” putting his stamp on the auto industry. Before long, his company was producing 7-8 car bodies a day. In the 1930s, Carrozzeria Pinin Farina established relationships with GM and Renault and earned international acclaim.

Always the friendly, bright soul, Battista worked quickly to establish his name among the largest automakers in Europe, developing relationships with Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Nash, Peugeot, and Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari, his close friend, brought his signature designs to the world stage, using Battista’s bodies on all his cars. Thus the Pininfarina name became synonymous with Ferrari. In 1950, Nash Motors approached Battista and interior designer, Helene Rother, to rework their two-seat Healey Sports car. The Nash-Healey would be marketed as “Pininfarina designed” and became one of the most famous automobiles of its time.

In 1951, Battista’s 1947 “Cisitalia” was displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art as “one of the eight most outstanding cars of our time.” This car set the standard for post-war era automobiles.

Forever the family man, Battista entrusted his company and his life’s work to his son Sergio “Pinin” Farina and his son-in-law Renzo Carli upon his retirement in 1961.

In 1961, the Italian government authorized the change of Battista’s last name from Farina to Pininfarina as a symbol of gratitude for his contributions as a torch-bearer of the Italian auto industry.

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 giant Mahindra Group acquired 76.06% of Pininfarina S.p.A. for about €168 million.[2]

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, Maserati, and NamX, 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 as CEO.[3]

At its height in 2006, the Pininfarina Group employed 2,768 with subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco and the United States. As of 2012, with the end of series automotive production, employment has shrunk to 821. Pininfarina is registered and publicly traded on the Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana.

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 giant Mahindra Group acquired 76.06% of Pininfarina S.p.A. for about €168 million.[2]

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, Maserati, and NamX, 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 as CEO.[3]

At its height in 2006, the Pininfarina Group employed 2,768 with subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco and the United States. As of 2012, with the end of series automotive production, employment has shrunk to 821. Pininfarina is registered and publicly traded on the Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana.