Italian design house Pininfarina looks set to join a revived Lagonda and Polestar in the battle for luxury electric car supremacy.
Pininfarina Chairman Paulo Pininfarina indicated as much during a speech made at this month's 2018 Geneva auto show, Motor1 reported on Friday.
“My father’s dream was to build a car company and his father’s dream was also to build a car company,” Pininfarina said. “Now I plan for that dream to come true.”
Pininfarina is referring of course to his father Sergio Pininfarina who expanded Pininfarina and turned it into the modern company it is today, and his grandfather Battista Pininfarina (born Battista Farina) who founded the company back in 1930.
India's Mahindra, which acquired Pininfarina in 2015, has also hinted on occasion of the potential of the Pininfarina name.
Pininfarina H2 Speed concept
The first Pininfarina-badged car has already been confirmed for launch in 2018. We're talking about the H2 Speed, an electric supercar relying on a hydrogen fuel cell stack to generate the electricity to power its motors. Just 12 examples will be built.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Pininfarina is venturing into car production. The company has built a number of cars for various automakers, the last being the Volvo C70.
The Italian design house has also dabbled in the world of electric cars. Some readers will recall that Pininfarina helped French firm Bolloré last decade to develop the BlueCar electric hatch used for car sharing.
Pininfarina is also developing a modular electric car platform for Chinese electric car startup Hybrid Kinetic Group. While Hybrid Kinetic is planning its own brand, it's possible Pininfarina may retain the right to use the modular platform being developed. Pininfarina CEO Silvio Pietro Angori has described Hybrid Kinetic as a “crucial and solid partner.”
Motor1 reports that a formal announcement on Pininfarina's electric car brand ambitions could be announced during the Formula E race in Rome on April 14. Stay tuned.
