Automotive News - June 2, 2008 - (Page 38)

38 • JUNE 2, 2008 Italdesign-Giugiaro showed its Quaranta concept at this year’s Geneva show. Some design houses fall on tough times Michael Taylor autonews@crain.com Designing Italian supercars has never been a vocation for the fainthearted. Companies without mastery of the Fiat political swirl are unlikely to last — and if they do, they will need to establish international relations with internal design staff members who often don’t want them there. But these design houses have brought the world joy while clinging to Turin’s outskirts waiting for scraps from Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari. Decades have passed since a production Ferrari was designed by anybody outside Pininfarina. That hasn’t stopped Pininfarina from falling on tough times, though, losing 114.5 million euros ($180.0 million at current rates) in 2007 alone. As with most of the struggling design houses of Italy, Pininfarina’s biggest problems stem, ironically, from the manufacturing that was introduced to secure its future. It has two car manufacturing plants, in San Giorgio and Bairo in northern Italy. Bairo is home to its folding-metal-roof operations, building both the Mitsubishi Colt CZC and the Ford Focus CC. Neither car has approached expected sales volumes. Bairo soon will take Alfa Spider and Brera production from its sister plant to free space for the Bollore electric car, which is scheduled to go on sale in 2010. This car is vital, because French financier Vincent Bollore has joined Piero Ferrari, Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, Brembo chairman Alberto Bombassei and the Sabelt Group’s Marsiaj family in buying 100 million euros worth of Pininfarina stock. The Pininfarina family’s ownership is down from 50 percent to just more than 30, and its new business plan calls for it to break even in 2009. While its styling work for Ferrari has been privately criticized by senior Fiat personnel, Pininfarina seems to have reserved its best work for Maserati, such as the near-perfect Birdcage 75th concept car, the Quattroporte sedan and the GranTurismo coupe. Incidentally, the cheapest Pininfarina design you can buy is a glass bottle of Lauretana mineral water from northern Italy. Importer Web sites charge $189 for six 750-milliliter bottles — or you can pick them up yourself in Italy for about $3 each. Italdesign-Giugiaro is a brave and innovative design house (think of the boomerang LED taillamps on its Maserati 3200GT) and, of late, has penned the aggressive tones of the Alfa Romeo 159 and Brera. Alfa turned away from Giugiaro for the flagship of its North American relaunch, the 8C Competizione. It was penned by Alfa’s former design boss, Wolfgang Egger (now at Porsche). Giugiaro showed its Quaranta concept car at this year’s Geneva show. Italdesign is in the mix on designs for various automakers in Korea and China. Your nearest access point to one of Giugiaro’s creations is a bottle of traditional balsamic vinegar (the real stuff only comes in a 100-milliliter Giugiaro-designed bottle), or you can spend a handful of euros to ride one of Italy’s Giugiaro-designed highspeed trains. Zagato collapsed in the 1990s amid quirky, angular concepts that contrived to make reasonable production cars seem uglier, and the Alfa Romeo SZ (dubbed Il Mostro — “The Monster” — by the cruel Italian press) didn’t reflect the elegance of its ’60s efforts for the same firm. Like Stola, it is not thought to have a significant ongoing manufacturer tieup, but it did show a Bentley GTZ Zagato concept at Geneva this year. Even Lamborghini, in a sign of the times, is shunning outside design shops, and the Reventon supercar and LP560-4 facelifts were designed in-house. c http://www.izmocars.com/autonews http://www.izmocars.com/autonews http://www.eneos.us http://www.eneos.us

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Automotive News - June 2, 2008 Gas prices fuel industry's new era Chrysler faces tricky dealer mergers Honda may crank out more Civics in N.A. Mercedes will move into Chrysler Pacifica studio Ford to offer hatchback version of Fiesta Prestige Automotive sells stores but keeps Black Enterprise top spot Dealership marketers take to text messaging Senate to hear personal pleas on roof crush rule Magazine: Chrysler, Fiat are talking Former Fla. dealer gets jail for bilking bank That guy Alfred had possibilities Ford will make next Mustang look smaller Pontiac subcompact may come to U.S. GM: Battery glitch cuts hybrid sales Porsche exec: CAFE 'will not change our nature' Japanese rivals race for lithium batteries Jatco boosts CVT capacity in Mexico for N.A. vehicles Mercury deserves a better chance Rising gas prices have changed the U.S. market Marketing and sales: Context and content Mexico's Nemak grows beyond North America Buyers didn't quit GM; GM quit on its buyers Brand perceptions change slowly Bloggers are journalists, too Nice HQ, Nissan, but where's Nobe? Chrysler's Chernoby: Growing up gearhead Picture this Mitsubishi hopes new gearbox widens Evo's appeal Openlane gets funds Obituaries Survey: Going green can get your auto ad noticed Inrix: Router can reduce traffic delays Mazda6 gets own platform for U.S. ... sort of Mazda6 set to take on mid-sized sedan heavyweights Troubled or not, the United States still beckons What's next? More transplant models headed this way Exports help as Mitsubishi sorts things out Irma Elder: 'This is one of the toughest times we have had' Fitzgerald: Dealers, consumers need alliance Can Bertone design a comeback? Family-owned business struggles for survival Some design houses fall on tough times Hughes: Not a subscriber? No problem American Axle lines up new non-U.S. business GM think tank works to boost service business Toyota offers gas card as tire incentive VW turns to common software to develop products Continental's Calif. office targets Asian carmakers ZF sees chassis, axle opportunities in N.A. Flex: A new Ford image ... or just over the top? Ford targeted Flex interior quiet, ride Ex-dealership managers say firings were over religion Dealers Genesis in Toledo: It's a long story Back woes sideline Nardelli GM: 19,000 take buyouts Panama to head Nissan Mexicana Wilhite jumps to Jumpstart Dauch sons move up, out Kozyra leaves Continental Ford to lay off salaried staff More small cars to arrive in 2009-10 Even on used market, big trucks go begging Auto advertisers adopt mpg mantra Industry to motorists: We're here to help Diesel prices hit suppliers' Mexico sites Can Camry catch F series? Leno's words of wisdom for automakers Nissan's carbon credits ease global warming guilt Automotive CEOs' pay pales next to peers' Year of the Small Car can't come too soon Foreign suppliers adding capacity in Southeast From cows to kimchi: Making Alabama sweet home for Koreans After light-truck push, cars are king again Mexican suppliers expect sales record in '08

Automotive News - June 2, 2008

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