Update: ‘Pininfarina in the United States’ section added
While deliveries of Pininfarina’s first in-house model, the limited edition Battista, is planned to commence in a few months, it appears that the Italian company, under the ownership of the Mahindra Group, is plotting a mass-market electric SUV to rival the like of the Tesla Model Y and the Mercedes EQA.
Speaking to Times of India last year, new MD and CEO, Mr. Anish Shah, commented that the company was studying the feasibility of having the Pininfarina as a separate brand from Mahindra, and that the eventual product could be an electric SUV priced around INR 40 lakhs (EUR 47,000) in the local market.
Mr. Shah stated that the Battista, which is exclusive to 125 units and priced at 2 million EUR a piece, would eventually help Pininfarina with its EV business as the technology and know-how, and not to forget the brand snobbery, would cascade into future products. M&M is developing its dedicated skateboard electric architecture that is expected to bear its first fruits around 2024. One possibility is the ‘budget’ Pininfarina SUV utilizing the high-spec version of this base.
The brand’s next project however is another premium vehicle, this time an SUV, codenamed Pininfarina PF1, but not as expensive as the Battista’s 2 million asking price. Autocar UK which got a secret preview of the concept (dubbed Pura Vision) describes it as merging a gap between the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo and the Lamborghini Urus. The positioning is indicative of a price tag running in the 175,000-200,000+ EUR range, with a preview having initially planned at the 2020 Pebble Beach Concours, which was cancelled due to Covid-19.
The Pininfarina electric SUV slotting in the 47,000 EUR mark would target mass-market EVs the like of which include the Tesla Model Y and the VW ID.5. However, it would be too early to go into the specifics as key decisions are still to be made. Pininfarina was scouting for a platform and technology partner for the PF1, which was originally planned on a Rivian-sourced platform. Pininfarina would also need a manufacturing partner to make such a ‘mass-market’ product, as its existing facility Turin, Italy, is used to hand-craft the Battista. Expect the low-end SUV to arrive deeper into the decade, as the brand follows a top-down approach.
Pininfarina in the United States
Automobili Pininfarina is expanding its footprint in North America by adding two new retail partners in key economic locations. Newport Beach Automotive Group in Orange County, California and Lake Forest Sportscars in Chicago will sell Pininfarina’s upcoming Battista electric hyper-GT after it enters production in Italy by spring 2022.
By adding new partners to its group of retailers, Pininfarina now has 9 retailers in North America. After the Battista Anniversario caught spectators’ eyeballs at the Monterey Car Week, all of the planned five examples were sold at the event. The brand now has 25 retail partners across the globe.
California is home to many of our existing and future clients, with many already pioneering the adoption of pure-electric, zero emission cars of all kinds. With our new partner location in Chicago, we have established an important brand presence between the US east and west coasts.
Per Svantesson, CEO, Automobili Pininfarina, in January 2022
