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Pininfarina CEO dies in motorcycle accident

Pininfarina

51 year old Pininfarina CEO (and grandson of Pininfarina founder Battista Pininfarina) Andrea Pininfarina died this morning in a road accident near Turin while he was riding to Pininfarina’s R&D center on his Vespa motorcycle. He is survived by his wife and 3 kids.

This is bad news indeed for Pininfarina the company as it is currently in the midst of restructuring. The Pininfarina family currently controls 55% of the company’s voting shares but stands to lose its majority with a reduction to 30% shares thanks to a new 100 million Euro capital increase request from its shareholders to cover its losses.

There are a number of key people with stake in Pininfarina including Piero Ferrari, Ratan Tata and Vincent Bollore.

16 Comments »

  1. auctioncenter2u said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 8:17 pm

    OH my GOD!

  2. terracottaz said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 8:19 pm

    yeah heard dat this evening…

  3. SatriaGuy said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 8:34 pm

    As a sign of respect, I will stop doodling car sketches on tissue papers for the rest of the day..

    Ciao Pininfarina!

    *sob* *sob*

  4. albagmane said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 8:48 pm

    wow… ferrari… maserati… eh eh eh… Hyundai Matrix and Naza Forza should be valuable ah?

  5. Roti Naan said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 9:13 pm

    my condolences…….

  6. xenith said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 9:13 pm

    May he Rest In Peace.

  7. unlogic said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 9:46 pm

    oh god!! what a shocking news!!
    my condolences :(

  8. rizones said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 10:55 pm

    here the crash pic’s ….

    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5de_1218109404

  9. csv said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 12:07 am

    damn, what a pity.

    alot of people are dying from traffic accident nowadays.

    so those that are driving out soon, be careful.

    sigh. there goes talent.

  10. mitlanevo said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 12:55 am

    may god bless your soul, R.I.P…..

  11. car_craze said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 8:03 am

    It’s sad and ironic that he died riding a Vespa when they are making their name building cars.
    Still it’s a big loss to the Pinin family and maybe a gain for Ferrari and Tata.

  12. cutester said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 11:00 am

    CEO riding a Vespa to work. Hard to find people with this kind of position riding a bike (small bike) to work. May God bless his soul.

  13. raptorclans said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 11:09 am

    It’s a sad loss for the car design industry… we just lost a legend. May he rest in peace… :(

  14. torque said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 12:38 pm

    My condolences towards his family…the world will simply lost your talented touch!

  15. ALPINA BMW said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 3:36 pm

    RIP Andrea Pininfarina

  16. mystvearn said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 6:45 pm

    Who are going to design the cars now? 2 wheels are dangerous, better stick on 4 wheels.

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