Pininfarina

Born Battista Farina (1893-1966), his nickname "Pinin" was local Turinese dialect for smallest of the family.

Pinin's career started in his teenage years at his brother Giovanni's coachbuilding firm, Stabilimenti Industriali Farina S.A. Battista left Stabilimenti Farina in 1930 to start his own company, Carrozzeria Pinin Farina (the Pininfarina name officially became one word in 1961). The firm grew rapidly through the 1930s, and then especially during the immediate postwar years, with clients like Cadillac, Alfa Romeo, Bentley and many more.

The high level of design caught the eye of Enzo Ferrari, and in 1952, Carrozzeria Pinin Farina began working with Ferrari. From the start, Pinin put his son Sergio (1926-2012) in charge of the Ferrari account.

Some of the world's most beautiful and highest performing automobiles resulted from the relationship between Ferrari and Sergio Pininfarina. But Sergio's role entailed more than handling the Ferrari account. Throughout the 1950s he became more and more involved in the running of Pininfarina while maintaining a hand in its styling direction. When his father died in 1966, Sergio was named the company's president.

Andrea Pininfarina, born in Turin, on June 26, 1957, joined the family business in 1983 after gaining a degree in mechanical engineering and became the company's CEO in 2001. Andrea died in a traffic accident in the early hours of Thursday, the 7th of august, 2008, in Trofarello near the Italian city of Turin, riding his Vespa scooter. Andrea's brother, Paolo, has been appointed the new CEO and chairman of Pininfarina.

The company exited car production in 2011 and now focuses solely on design, cutting staff from 5,000 to 500. Turnover has tumbled from 670 million euros in 2007 to 79 million in 2013, but the company is profitable on an operating level.

www.pininfarina.it