Pininfarina confirms: Indians Mahindra want to buy us – BBC

THE BODY TORINESI

Milan , March 26, 2015 – 24:32

     
     
 

From China to India, the route of Asia-Italian business runs at high speed. After Pirelli also Pininfarina could find a new owner in the East. The Mahindra Group, industrial giant with activities ranging from real steel to the car, is at the window. Negotiations are in progress, according to the American agency Bloomberg in the coming weeks could be concluded. No comment by the Turin flying over on market rumors. But the stock market believes Wednesday the title has skyrocketed with an increase of 26%. Thursday morning the confirmation by the Italian group that “the state, despite the interest expressed by Mahindra, one of the most important customers of Pininfarina, there are no binding agreements of any kind between the parties which will lead to a purchase of Pininfarina on the part of Indian society. ” The title has suffered a backlash, with a decline of up to 7% who did suspend the trading day. Then Pininfarina returned mid-morning on the Stock Exchange but remains heavy at -4.6%.

Most of clues leads to the runway Indian: the two companies already cooperate in the construction vehicles and prototypes. The plans of the Mahindra, specializes in SUVs and commercial vehicles, provide a ‘expansion in the sector: in 2011 he bought the agonizing Korean brand Ssangyong to relaunch it. In

January, another shot in Europe: 15 million euro now Mumbai has obtained from the majority of the Peugeot motorcycle division. For Pininfarina struggling with a tough restructuring plan, the entry of Mahindra could bring oxygen into the coffers. The accounts are in the red, the bank debts of € 104 million, although some improvement can be seen: the value of production rose by 8.5% in 2014. Yet in the Annual Report emerge all the difficulties of a ‘company, which depends more than 90% from the automotive orders. A business changed dramatically since past manufacturers have expanded their style centers, leaving little work to the “body shops”. The same Ferrari, Pininfarina tied to for 60 years, uses the proposals Piedmont designers as an alternative to the internal ones. From pencils were born in Turin in fact some of the finest Redheads always: a marriage celebrated in a legendary meeting in a restaurant by the parties of Tortona – halfway between Turin and Maranello – between Giovanni Battista “Pinin”, the son Sergio and the founder Horse Enzo. I wonder if the Indians know the story.

March 26, 2015 | 24:32

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED