Pininfarina stops producing cars; will instead focus on design
Pininfarina, the epic auto design and coachbuilding company responsible for the likes of Ferrari and Maserati models, is taking its breakdown to the next level by announcing that it will no longer be producing cars. This news comes about two years after the company sold its auto assembly and painting business. From now on, Pininfarina will only be in the automotive design business.
"Unfortunately we are having to stop our production activities, given the way the car market is. So we are focusing on design and engineering," a Pininfarina spokesman said. Since this decision was made, Pininfarina has already begun laying off the first few of the 127 employees that will be losing their jobs, a task that is costing them a total of 2.9 million euro ($3,900,000 at the current exchange rates)
It didn’t seem as though Pininfarina had much choice in the matter considering their business had plummeted since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008. There was a time when Pininfarina produced 40,000 vehicles in one year, and in 2010, that number dwindled down to 7,000. Now that their only focus will be on design, we expect to see great things from the Italian company.
