Mahindra group acquires Pininfarina design house

After months of intense negotitations and uncertainties, the Mahindra group has finally acquired what is possibly the greatest automotive design firm, Pininfarina. Pininfarina is responsible for some of the greatest cars to have ever graced the world including the Ferrari F40, F50 and 288GTO amongst other modern sportscars. Pininfarina has also actuvely designed cars for most major Chinese automotive manufacturers both in concept and production capabilities.

According to reports, Mahindra will pay around Rs 187 Crore for 76% of the Italian design house, and plans to make offers for the remaining 24%. In addition to the cash payout, Mahindra has guaranteed the Italian brand's creditors more than Rs 838 Crore, and promises to invest a further Rs 130 Crore into the company for future expansions. All in, Mahindra's investment into Pininfarina will be near Rs 1,238 Crore. That said, Mahindra as an automaker will not be the majority stake holder in the deal. That honor will go to Tech Mahindra, which will be the official holders of Pininfarina henceforth.

According to Mr. Karthikeyan Natrajan, Senior VP and Global Head-Integrated Engineering Solutions for Tech Mahindra, “Mahindra and Mahindra as an automaker will also have stake in the business but will continue to remain a business client of the Pininfarina firm as it has been for the last few years. As Pininfarina-Mahindra, we plan to begin with the vision ‘Designed in Italy, Engineered for the World’ as soon as possible and proceed from thereon.”

The Pininfarina deal will also mean that Mahindra products in the future will have even better designs than what we see today and will move towards a more global product formula. The new Mahindra-Pininfarina joint venture will go a long way into making Mahindra a more global player along with other motorsport initiatives like the Formula E and Moto 3 racing programs. In the near future, Pininfarina will not have a design house set up in India but will continue to work out of its main offices in Italy with more focus and impetus given to its offices in countries like Russia and China.

When asked if Pininfarina-Mahindra had plans to entre the educational sector with a professional course on industrial and automotive design, representatives mentioned how it was too early to comment on something like this but it would definitely be considered if the need arose in the future.