Nick Heidfeld to Join Automobili Pininfarina as Hypercar Designs Revealed
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• Automobili Pininfarina previews exterior design of first ever Pininfarina-branded electric luxury hypercar, codenamed ‘PF0’
• Nick Heidfeld announced as development driver for new Automobili Pininfarina team at Formula E street race in New York
• Automobili Pininfarina invites specialist retailers to join new business as partners and deliver world-class service to future owners of Automobili Pininfarina range of luxury electric cars
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Luca Borgogno, Automobili Design Director said: “Pininfarina has an unprecedented heritage of delivering cars that are both beautiful to look at and technically innovative. Creating this combination in the first Pininfarina-branded road car is a dream come true.
“The design of PF0 will espouse purity, beauty and innovation. Working closely with Pininfarina SpA we have created three new images that give prospective owners an exciting preview of the design features we will introduce on this incredible hypercar.”
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As a special guest of Mahindra Racing at this weekend’s Formula E street race, Automobili Pininfarina CEO Michael Perschke also announced plans to bring on board ex-Formula 1 racing driver Nick Heidfeld. Heidfeld will be an integral member of the team developing the PF0 vehicle dynamics programme from the beginning of 2019, prior to the all-electric hypercar’s on-sale date of late-2020.
Michael Perschke said: “PF0 is borne from the 50 year old dream of Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, to see a stand-alone Pininfarina-branded range of cars that are both beautiful and technologically advanced. PF0 will deliver enormous power and driver thrills in abundance.
“We have a specific strategy in place to develop road car technology inspired by motorsport. Nick Heidfeld has more experience racing in Formula E than any other driver and we are delighted that from next year he will help deliver race-bred, electrifying performance in PF0.”
Racing driver Nick Heidfeld said: “The opportunity to join the Automobili Pininfarina family and develop cars that will deliver performance unlike anything before them is fantastic. I will continue to race next year and I am looking forward to sharing my motorsport knowledge with the new engineering and design team at Automobili Pininfarina, which will support their ambition to create beautiful sports and luxury cars offering electrifying performance on road and circuit.”
Automobili Pininfarina was officially launched to the world’s media in Rome, Italy in April this year, where it announced its plan to sustainably develop and produce fully-electric ultra-luxury cars in low volumes at the pinnacle of design and desirability in their respective segments.
North America is likely to be Automobili Pininfarina’s largest market for sales given the passionate interest in both electric-power and Pininfarina-designed cars, and so the new business is now engaging with prospective retailer partners as it seeks to deliver world-class client care as part of its specialist vehicle ownership strategy.
“Clients of PF0 and the future portfolio of Automobili Pininfarina luxury cars will find ownership as enjoyable, effortless and exciting as it is driving them. We fully intend to partner with the world’s best luxury car retailers in order to help deliver on that promise: a true team effort and one-to-one experience that online sales can never deliver”, said Michael Perschke.
“We plan to enhance the important partnerships we are developing with these retailers by inviting them and their clients to personalise PF0 experiences during Monterey Car Week in August this year. These briefings will be by invitation only and will be the first time prospective customers have the opportunity to view our groundbreaking, beautiful hypercar ahead of production in 2020.”
Automobili Pininfarina and PF0
From an operational headquarters in Munich, Germany, and with a team of experienced automotive executives from luxury and premium car brands, Automobili Pininfarina will bring to market unique, beautiful and
technically-advanced sustainable luxury electric cars. Designed, developed and produced in Germany and Italy, all models will be sold and serviced in all major global markets under the brand name Pininfarina.
The new company aims to be the most sustainable luxury car brand in the world.
The company is a 100 per cent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd investment and has been named Automobili Pininfarina following the signing of a trademark licence agreement between Pininfarina SpA and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Pininfarina SpA will take an influential role in supporting design, engineering and production activities based on their unique almost 90-year experience of producing many of the world’s most iconic cars.
Anand Mahindra, Chairman Mahindra & Mahindra, Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of Pininfarina SpA, and Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman Mahindra Racing, launched the new car brand with Michael Perschke, CEO Automobili Pininfarina at the Rome Formula E race on April 13th 2018. Mahindra has quickly built up experience of cutting-edge ‘race-to-road’ sustainable high-performance technological innovation having competed in every Formula E race since the world’s most innovative motor racing series began in 2013.
Automobili Pininfarina will combine this ‘in-house’ expertise with partnerships with some of the world’s leading automotive engineering suppliers to support its aggressive targets for performance and market launch in late‑2020.
The first car from Automobili Pininfarina will be an ultra-low volume ultra-luxury electric hypercar codenamed PF0. It will be followed by a range of low-volume all-electric cars, including luxury SUVs, sold and serviced through a network of experienced luxury car retailers.
