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MILAN, Italy - Pininfarina, the auto design and coachbuilding company, announced it is giving up one of its historic businesses: making car bodies.
Pininfarina said in a statement that it is ceasing production and laying off 127 remaining workers. It will continue its design and engineering businesses.
The 2008 economic crisis saw a steep decline in sales
for automakers that contracted companies such as Pininfarina to make
speciality cars. Volvo announced in October 2011 that it would close its Uddevalla plant in Sweden, run as a joint venture with Pininfarina, due to its low production volumes. Volvo's C70 coupe-convertible was manufactured at the plant.
AN AUTOMOTIVE GREAT
In its heydey, Pininfarina produced as many as 40 000 cars a year. Production in 2010 was 7000.
Pininfarina previously sold its auto assembly and painting business as part of the northern Italian company's efforts to downsize. It then focused its business on design, engineering and producing more environmentally friendly technologies, including electric cars, as part of its new business plan.
Pininfarina SpA, founded in 1930, has designed cars for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac and Volvo, among others - but is most closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all of Ferrari's models since the 1950s. They include the convertibles the California Spider and the Daytona Spider.