Pininfarina family stake to be sold - Tata potential suitor

Next stop... Fiat. Now that would be hilarious!

Cant help if the whites aint doin good business ;) shifting times.. its the Asian millenium baby.. get used to it.. heh heh :D

Haha. Wow, that's ignorant. It seems like you harbor alot of angst. Let me enlighten you about Tata. Tata (and others) have benefitted greatly from western technical know-how. Tata was helped by Daimler-Benz in the 1950s and more recently FIAT, who licensed their common-rail diesel technology to Tata. Also, many of the more complicated parts of the beloved Nano such as the ABS, ECU, Fuel Injection, etc are sourced from Bosch, as they are in many cars all around the world. Heck, the Nano was even designed at the IDEA institute in Italy. Also, in case you either didn't read or understand the title, "potential suitor" means that the deal is just hearsay at this point. If you read further, the rest of the article states that Bollore has expressed interest as well.

Great catch TATA. Go for it. Pinin otherwise was losing identity since most car companies have their own design shop.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of some Italian Tatas in these photographs...

Unfortunately they're concealed by that lovely purple top.

they are design company not car company, and how can a design house with virtually a bunch of people and a few paper and pencil can lose so much money??? they went to gamble?

Good to know that u have good knowledge of the company.. being an Indian n having had a couple of my family members working for Tata, I do know my history well :) no doubting the fact that Tata has gained a lot from European manufacturers, but thats how its always been, every manufacturer has gained from another.. thats business.. the Tata-Fiat JV was Fiat's proposal to set a good base in India, which later became a world JV.. Tata has its own common rail engine, the multijet just happens to be a better engine n there r a hell a lot of manufacturers using that same engine.. n about Nano, it was designed internally, coz IDEA's top designers work for Tata.. so, it was designed abroad, but, it was designed by foreigners.. n yea, I do know that the deal is still in its nascent stage n this is still just a speculation, but looking at the way the world's gone tipsy-turvy, n yet the Asian giants r still on their feet says a lot ;) thats my point.. yea, the Europeans have done a great deal to this sector, but the way their biggest names seem to be crumbling, n then be restructured by some or the other Asian company seems to talk a lot about our business managerial skills.. so.. all I'm saying is that no matter wat the past had for us, the future seems to be ours :) many have cribbed about this.. so, its better to get used to this upsurge rather than crib.. n I say this with no animosity, but with shear pride ;) tc..

Just like how Nissan is owned by Renault?? And yeah, the Chinese firms have done real well with Rover and Ssangyong (not!). By the way, there are plenty of western companies that are doing fine that employ people in India. Its a global economy and there will be winners and losers in all parts of the world, unlike in the colonial past. Bottom line, it is good that more people around the world will be able to enjoy driving and there are car manufacturers from different parts of the world with their own unique characters. At least that's my view as a car-lover.

oops.. I meant the Nano wasn't designed abroad.. my bad.. N tat post was for edison..

One more Italian goes down the nasty tata drain. Hope Bollere makes a better deal! The JLR debacle is enough! On a different note, Tata seem to bite more than they can chew. Their acquisition spree may seem like jingoism to Indians, but we are gonna have the last laugh when Tata sink deep into the ocean debt they are already in. Looking forward to that day! Haha

Go for it Tata :) How cool would it be to see a Pininfarina badge on the next gen Indica?

Wow, ease it with the imperialism sris! Just because Tata and SAIC are out buying every bankrupt and defunct company they can find, doesn't mean they're taking over the world!!

Heh heh.. sorry, just got a lil carried away.. sorry..

Just as I expected, I can hear some here whinning about Tata taking over Pininfarina..Its just a speculation, Nothing has been done yet. Even if so, there is nothing you will be able to do about it. Did someone say Tata are having Debt? People who say that don't know how much Does Tata have with them as a back up. Get a grip arm chair experts.....

I'm with you.

I'm pretty appalled by the racist comments here. Tata, in their ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover seem to be walking the line more than adequately. The Tata group are arguably one of the most successful conglomerates in history. They don't accomplish success in such diversified fields over the last century without working out how and where to effect changes.

I have a feeling that Pininfarina would be able to operate as an Autonomous element of the Tata group rather than a subservient one.