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Struggling Bertone could be sold to Indian firm

Posted Mon Mar 17 2008 10:15 AM by Viknesh Vijayenthiran

Another legendary marque could be sold off to an Indian firm with news coming out today claiming Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is one of a number of firms interested in purchasing Italy’s Bertone. The famed coachbuilder and design house has been placed under administration and officials are now assessing seven bids they have received from international companies including bids from India and Japan.

The bidders reportedly include M&M, a company that previously placed a bid for Jaguar and Land Rover, as well as the Japanese-owned engineering firm PCL Group currently based in Germany. There have also been reports stating that rival design house Giugiaro is also interested in buying Bertone, although there is no real certainty in any of the bids, reports Automotive News.

One of Bertone’s administrators stated that any formal bids would come to light in about three months, but it’s unlikely that Bertone will ever be declared bankrupt.

These days it seems as though coachbuilding is experiencing a downturn - it wasn't long ago that Pininfarina was also on the verge of bankruptcy. But the success of boutique car manufacturers such as Fisker, especially in the electric market, reveal that there is room in coachbuilding to succeed and that it is possible to turn Bertone around in the future.

Pictured above is Bertone’s B.A.T. 11 concept vehicle unveiled earlier this month. The concept, which is based on the Alfa Romeo 8C supercar, was meant to be displayed at the Geneva Motor Show but didn’t because of financial reasons.

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Reader Comments

• Mon Mar 17 2008 10:44 AM

  chris says

  to think some one could take a car as perfect as the 8c and make something as hideous as that... is spectacular on its own. with that kind of talent, it would be a shame to see this company go bankrupt. god is that ever ugly

• Mon Mar 17 2008 12:02 PM

  Edward says

  What do the Indians know about design? That Bertone is going belly up only goes to show the lack of design talent in the world today.

• Mon Mar 17 2008 1:17 PM

  voodooboy says

  What do YOU know about design? Bertone going down says nothing about the "lack of design" talent. It only shows that they couldn't keep up with the competition and tune their design to what people wanted.

• Tue Mar 18 2008 5:24 PM

  Edward says

  Contrary to what voodooboy says, the great designers establish the trend not the other way around. Quotes from Batista (Pinin) Farina. Most people do not have taste in auto design, so if you design cars for the mass market, they will be ugly as hell.