Italian entrepreneur and grandson of the founder of the renowned styling house passes away at the age of 65; along with expanding the automotive business, he was instrumental for the Group’s diversification into architecture and other design areas.
10 Apr 2024 | 4496 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of the Pininfarina Group, passed away yesterday in Turin at the age of sixty-five.
Born in Turin on August 28, 1958, Paolo Pininfarina graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin. Following a series of formative and professional experiences abroad including at Cadillac, Honda, ...
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Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of the Pininfarina Group, passed away yesterday in Turin at the age of sixty-five.
Born in Turin on August 28, 1958, Paolo Pininfarina graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin. Following a series of formative and professional experiences abroad including at Cadillac, Honda, and General Motors, in 1982 he began his professional journey at Pininfarina, and in 1987, he assumed the position of President and CEO of Pininfarina Extra SpA, a company within the Group specializing in industrial design, furniture, architecture, nautical, and aeronautical design.
Since 1988, he was a member of the Board of Directors and since 2002, a member of the Management Committee of the Parent Company Pininfarina SpA. In 2006, he was appointed Vice-President of Pininfarina SpA. and since 2008, following the sudden passing of his brother Andrea, he assumed the position of Chairman.
Among the masterpieces personally overseen by him, two are particularly dear to him: the concept car Sergio, a two-seater barchetta based on Ferrari mechanics, which Paolo decided to create in 2013 in memory of his father, renowned designer Sergio Pininfarina, and the Automobili Pininfarina Battista, an electric hypercar bearing his grandfather's name, which he himself unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2019.
Paolo Pininfarina's long and illustrious career in design and the automotive industry has made him a reference figure in the Italian and international landscape, demonstrating his constant commitment to innovation and excellence.
He headed The Board of Directors and the Company gather around the Family in remembrance of Paolo Pininfarina's professional and human figure, who for many years dedicated commitment, enthusiasm, and energy to the company founded by his grandfather Battista in 1930, presiding over it from 2008 to the present. Thanks to Paolo Pininfarina's dedication, the company initiated a diversification process in the 1980s that led it to become a reference point in design fields other than automotive over time.
"On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Board of Statutory Auditors, and all Pininfarina employees, I express deep sorrow and condolences for the loss of our dear Chairman," says Pininfarina's CEO, Silvio Angori. "We are all extremely grateful to Eng. Pininfarina for his extraordinary contribution to the company and for always passionately advocating for our history and corporate identity both in terms of style and ethical and behavioural choices. The best way to honour his memory is to continue, as he would want, to commit ourselves to the future of Pininfarina."