UPDATE: Pininfarina will be a big part of Karma Automotive at next week's Shanghai Auto Show when the Southern California-based luxury electric car startup owned by China's supplier giant Wanxiang Group hosts three global premieres. A Pininfarina-designed concept car based on a new partnership, along with a next-generation luxury electric Revero and an all-electric Karma Vision concept, will form Karma's "Shanghai Big Three" product announcement.
This article appeared in the January 2019 (Vol.14, No.1) issue of China Automotive Review (CAR), our monthly publication in English exclusively focused on the Chinese auto industry.
SHANGHAI – Italian design house Pininfarina Group celebrated the growth of its Chinese design studio – Pininfarina Shanghai – on November 24 with clients at the Pininfarina Showroom in Lingkong Soho Shanghai, at the presence of CEO Silvio Pietro Angori.
Pininfarina has been the first Italian design house to provide styling and engineering services to Chinese car manufacturers from 1996 onwards. In 2010 Pininfarina Shanghai was set up with the aim of locating a design development satellite in Shanghai, the strategic automotive site for the Asian area. Today Pininfarina Shanghai is a consolidated outpost of commercial development and design creation that can count on a multicultural team that gives the Chinese headquarters of Pininfarina a strong international character and a global vision in the daily challenge of an increasingly demanding market.
Under the guidance of General Manager Simone Tassi, Chinese operations' business volumes and profitability continue to grow. The Q3 2018 key financial figures show an increase by 76 percent of the revenue on the corresponding period of 2017. EBITDA (gross operating profit) and EBIT (operating profit) show both a significant jump on the corresponding period of 2017. The profit for the period is four times that for the corresponding period of 2017. The headcount increased up to 50 employees and it is expected to further grow this year up to 80.
"In Pininfarina, we always study and search the ultimate and high-end combination of tradition and innovation in any product we design. Our mission here in China is to provide the community lifestyle with timeless beauty in every industry," said Tassi.
Pininfarina's Chinese subsidiary is today a design studio able to offer to the Chinese market a 360° range of design services, from automotive to architecture and industrial design. Clients list has doubled in the last two years and includes Top 10 OEMs (such as Chery, Dongfeng, Chang'an, GAC, JAC and others) as well as new EV companies. Pininfarina Shanghai is able to support Chinese automakers from the sketching phase and design language definition to the delivery of show cars and concept cars. Highly commercially successful vehicles have been designed for Chinese OEMs, such as the DX7, the first outcome of collaboration between Pininfarina and Southeast Motor, which was followed by the compact SUV DX3.
"China is the perfect place to express all our expertise and creativity in every sector," said Angori. "I believe that, together with Chinese partners willing to innovate, we can create new icons of beauty as we did in our 88 years of history."
As a further confirmation of Pininfarina's commitment on the Chinese market, at the beginning of 2017 the signing of a trade agreement between Pininfarina and Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd. was announced. For this client Pininfarina has already developed an entire family of electric cars confirming their joint effort to develop clean energy vehicles while at the same time continuing to refine the identity of Hong Kong's high-tech brand: H600 luxury saloon presented at the Geneva Motor Show 2017, K550 5-seater and K750 7-seater SUVs presented at the Shanghai Motor Show 2017, HK GT, fresh from the critical acclaim it recorded at the Geneva Motor Show 2018, the H500 saloon and the 4-seater K350 SUV unveiled at Auto China 2018.
Pininfarina's business in Asia is now expanding from automotive to architecture and industrial design. Last October a strategic collaboration has been signed with Hisense, one of the largest consumer electronics and home appliances company in the world, in addition to other important collaborations with Chinese manufacturers into transportation and industrial design.
Pininfarina has also appointed IMG as its global licensing representative in a multi-year agreement. The partnership with IMG, which has a solid presence in China, will see the Pininfarina brand licensed across a selection of consumer categories bringing Pininfarina's award-winning designs to a wider selection of products and consumers with a strong focus on the lifestyle sector, including technical sportswear, electronics, car accessories, home furnishings, travel goods and real estate projects.