Paolo Pininfarina seen here with the PF0 prototype. (Automobili Pininfarina)

Automobili Pininfarina invests in excess of $22.7m in Pininfarina SpA design services to support plans for a range of beautiful and innovative luxury electric cars.

The automaker revealed PF0’s ‘PURA’ design philosophy, which will inspire the styling of its future range of high-performance EVs. Automobili Pininfarina’s management team strengthened further with appointment of Jari Kohonen as Chief Sales Officer to lead worldwide business development.

The investment will underpin the design, development and production of the PF0 luxury electric hypercar and the future range of Automobili Pininfarina cars.

Michael Perschke, CEO, Automobili Pininfarina said, “It is a pleasure and a privilege to partner with the world’s greatest car design house, Pininfarina SpA. This agreement brings us together and marks the beginning of two exciting chapters in our very different histories.

“For Automobili Pininfarina, it will form the cornerstone of our ambition to become the world’s most admired luxury electric vehicle company. For Pininfarina SpA, it delivers Battista’s dream of seeing a range of beautiful and highly desirable Pininfarina-branded cars on the roads.”

PF0 prototype. (Automobili Pininfarina)

Silvio Pietro Angori, CEO, Pininfarina SpA said “We are very pleased to add Automobili Pininfarina to the list of the many prestigious car makers for which Pininfarina SpA will be designing cars in the future. This agreement will also allow us to show our expertise in engineering and manufacturing of limited-series cars. Starting with the stunning PF0, we will develop a range of cars for Automobili Pininfarina that I believe will stand side-by-side with classic Pininfarina cars in their beauty, purity and innovative technologies.”

With its elegance, simplicity and purity of design, underpinned by extreme technical innovation, PF0 clearly shows how Pininfarina SpA will combine its design, engineering heritage and philosophy into the first-ever solely Pininfarina-branded cars. Automobili Pininfarina ‘PURA’ design philosophy presented alongside new PF0 prototype As with all Pininfarina-designed cars, the end product is more than just a styling exercise. The Italian coachbuilder, known for designing many of the world’s most iconic cars, has always viewed automotive exterior and interior design, the driving experience, the passenger experience, and engineering innovation as equal partners. This design purity, where form and function are inseparable, defines what Automobili Pininfarina is terming its ‘PURA’ design vision for its own range of cars and all brand touchpoints.

Luca Borgogno, design director, Automobili Pininfarina said, “Our design brief to Pininfarina SpA is simple: to take their renowned design and engineering skill, which has produced many of the world’s most elegant and desirable cars, and combine it with our desire to develop and deliver the world’s most beautiful range of luxury cars. There is a purity in our ambition, the styling of our cars and our engineering focus on emissions-free sustainable performance. We have termed this ‘PURA’, and it will define everything we do in the coming years.”

Starting with PF0 in 2020, ‘PURA’ will ensure that Automobili Pininfarina cars match purity in design with energizing performance derived from optimized aerodynamics, ground-breaking engineering solutions, and the extreme – yet manageable – power that electrification offers.

PURA design philosophy. (Automobili Pininfarina)

Carlo Bonzanigo, design vice president, Pininfarina Group said: “Pininfarina-designed cars throughout history have always combined creativity and technical rationality in a unique way. This search for the right equilibrium between emotion and reason, together with our constant quest for beauty and elegance, and the will to eschew useless formalism and excessive adornments, has led to some of the most beautiful cars in automotive history. This is the Pininfarina way to conceive cars; and we aim to deliver these standards to all future Pininfarina cars starting from the beautiful PF0 hypercar.”

The Munich-based company has started presenting the PF0 prototype in Europe. The first potential European clients and the first luxury car retailers aiming to represent the brand in the region have met at a series of VIP events hosted by legendary racing driver and new Automobili Pininfarina development driver Nick Heidfeld. Early feedback indicates strong demand for PF0 and significant interest in plans for future cars that will all be luxury, fully-electric and low-volume within their sectors.

Michael Perschke, CEO, Automobili Pininfarina said, “In North America the response to PF0 has been overwhelming, with nearly three-quarters of the allocation for that market now reserved by clients.”