Pininfarina signs a preliminary deal to sell one of its plants
By Andrew C., 30 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
Pininfarina S.p.A. signed a preliminary deal last week to sell one of its plants to FinPiemonte Partecipazioni S.p.A., a financial holding owned by the Piedmont Region, for 15 million euros. The struggling Italian auto company said that the deal will allow it to downsize and to focus more on designing, engineering and producing low-CO2 models such as its Bluecar electric car.
Pininfarina uses its factory in Grugliasco , Italy , to make bodies-in-white for the Alfa Romeo Brera and Spider and Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet. These painted cars are then shipped off to other Pininfarnia plants for final assembly. In this complex three-way transaction, Innovation in Auto Industry (IAI) S.p.A. will be renting out the plant from FinPiemonte for 650,000 euros a year for six years. In a separate transaction, IAI will buy Pininfarina's tooling and contracts for the 900 workers in Grugliasco for 2 million euros. As a result of these deals, Pininfarina will be able to reduce staffing costs by half. Right before the year ends, the two transactions are expected to be completed and IAI will then be supplying Pininfarina “at cost” the painted bodies of the Brera, Spider and Focus Coupe Cabriolet.
[via autonews]
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