- Pininfarina Sergio
- parents: late Pininfarina Battista and late Rosa Copasso
- born: Turin, Italy, September 8, 1926
- married: 1951, with Giorgia Gianolio
- children: Lorenza, Andrea, Paolo
Graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic of Torino in 1950, he began his career in the family firm, “Carrozzeria Pinin Farina”; in 1960, he undertook the responsibility of General Manager of the firm; in 1961 he became also Managing Director and in 1966, at his father’s death, he took over the Chairmanship of the Company; in 2006 he became Honorary Chairman.
In 1961, the President of the Italian Republic, Giovanni Gronchi, changed by decree the name Farina in Pininfarina.
From 1974 to 1977 he has been professor of “Car Body Design” at the Polytechnic of Torino.
During his more than fifty years of work, the Pininfarina Group has enjoyed a constant increase in technical and production development: the value of production augmented of nearly 90 times from 8.2 million of Euros (650 million of Lire of that time) to more than 700 million of Euros; the units produced of more than 100 times: from 524 to more than 53.000; the number of employees is more than quintupled (from 560 to 3000). At now it has several plants, in Italy and abroad.
The most significant stages of the company’s growth are:
• from 1955 to 1958, the planning and the construction of new facilities at Grugliasco (Torino). The total surface was 22,700 square metres and now is 66,200 square metres.
• in 1964, the construction of the new Studies and Research Centre (total surface 4,300 square metres), which is the evolution of the previous Reparto Esperienze, inaugurated in 1966.
• in 1967, the Centre DEA (Centre of three-dimensional measuring and drawing machines) was inaugurated and continued to grow becoming CCD (automated Calculation and Design Centre) in 1971;
• in 1972, the Wind Tunnel on 1:1 scale started its activities, the first in Italy and one of the few in the world;
• in 1979, Pininfarina took the form of an holding Company:
• in 1982, a new company “Pininfarina Studi e Ricerche S.p.A.” – named from January 2002 Pininfarina Ricerca e Sviluppo S.p.A. - was settled at Cambiano (Torino), in order to carry over in an independent way the design and research activities; the total surface was 9,100 square metres and now is 10,200 square metres.
• in 1986, a new plant in San Giorgio Canavese - near Turin - started operating, to house the final assembly and trimming of some of the models produced; the total surface was 23,500 square metres and now is 35,300 square metres plus a test track
• in the same year, Pininfarina successfully entered the Italian Stock Exchange
• in 1987, with the setting up the company “Pininfarina Extra S.r.l.”, the Pininfarina Group enlarged its design activities towards all the areas of the industrial design, beyond the traditional one of the means of transport.
• in 1991, throughout the acquisition of two Companies in Germany operating in the engineering and model making field, “Pininfarina Deutschland GmbH” was set up.
• in 1997 a new plant in Bairo Canavese is acquired, where from 1999 SUV Mitsubishi will be manufactured; the total surface was 17,100 square metres and now is 26,100 square metres
• in 2002 it is inaugurated in Cambiano the new Engineering Centre, to offer the market this sector of activity; the total surface is 6,900 square metres
• in September 2003, it is finalised the acquisition of Matra Automobile’s engineering activities, operation that will contribute to strengthening Pininfarina’s position in the new product development sector.
• in the same month, it has been established a joint venture with Volvo Car Corporation with the aim to develop and manufacture Volvo’s next generation convertible: the new Company “Pininfarina Sverige AB” is responsible for all operation at the Uddevalla plant.
• on January 1st, 2004 takes place the merger by absorption of Pininfarina Ricerca e Sviluppo S.p.A. and Industrie Pininfarina S.p.A. into Pininfarina S.p.A. with the purpose of concentrating all of the activities and services that the Pininfarina Group can perform and offer to its customers in a single company structured by business units.
MAIN PAST POSITIONS
July 1978 - June 1984: President of the Industrial Association of Torino.
July 1979 - June 1988: Member of the European Parliament.
October 1983 - June 1988: President of the Federation of Industrial Associations of Piedmont.
May 1987 - June 1989: President of OICA (International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers).
May 1988 - May 1992 : President of Confindustria (Confederation of Italian Industries).
January 1989 - July 1997 : Board Member of AUME (Association for the Monetary Union of Europe) in charge of Italy.
December 1990 - December 1994 : Vice President of UNICE (Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe).
March 1993 - July 1996: President of Comitato Leonardo - Italian Quality Committee
June 1991 – June 2001: Co-President of “Comitato per la Direttrice Europea Transpadana” – high-speed Italian railways on the West-East axis Lyon-Turin-Milan-Trieste-Lubjana promoting Committee.
April 2001 – June 2002 : President Banca CRT
May 2001 – January 2005 : Chief of the Italian delegation in the Intergovernmental Italian- French Commission for the new high-speed railway link between Lyon and Turin.
January 1996 – October 2006: Chairman FIDIA S.p.A. - Manager of a closed-end investment securities fund.
July 2004 – April 2007: Co-President Italy-Japan Business Group
July 2004 – March 2008: Chairman Editrice La Stampa S.p.A.
CURRENT POSITIONS
• Member of the Board of Directors of Ferrari S.p.A.
• Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the “Collezione Farnesina Design” of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Within Pininfarina Group:
• PININFARINA S.p.A.: Honorary Chairman
• PININFARINA EXTRA S.r.l.: Honorary Chairman
HONOURS
On June 2nd, 1976, Sergio Pininfarina was appointed “Cavaliere del Lavoro” by the President of the Italian Republic.
On March 4th, 1979, the President of the French Republic, Mr. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing conferred on him the grade of Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur. This decoration was consigned to him by the French Ambassador in Rome, Mr. François Puaux.
On November 17th, 1983, he was awarded the title of “Honorary Royal Designer for Industry” by the Royal Society of Arts, London.
On May 26th, 1988 he was appointed “Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences”.
On June 30th, 1991 in Detroit he received the prestigious “Designer Lifetime Achievement Award” for the “contribution given to the evolution of the automotive style”, granted for the first time to an Italian designer.
On December 3rd, 1992 he received in Paris the “Trophée de l’Automobile Magazine ” for his environmental work on the Ethos prototype and for his technical and styling contribution to Ferrari, during more than forty years of co-operation.
On January 26th, 1993 in Rome he was given the “Honorary Degree in Economics and Commerce” by the LUISS - Free International University of Social Studies.
On July 8th, 1994 in Milan he received the “Guglielmo Tagliacarne” award from AISM - the Italian Association for Marketing Studies - in recognition of the role he has played in establishing and promoting all over the world the prestige of the Italian product and creativity.
On September 30th, 1994 within the context of the “The Film Week of Italian Enterprise” in New York, he received the “Italy in the World” award for 2having, with his work, prestigiously represented the image of Italy in the world”.
On March 30th, 1995 he received in Milan from ADI - Association for the Industrial Design - the Career Award Compasso d’Oro for having demonstrated how to combine continuity and innovative aims and qualities in the automobile design.
On September 11th, 1995 he received in Wiesbaden the first “Designaward” conferred by “auto welt” for “having exerted a unique influence on the evolution of automobile creativeness: a master of aerodynamics and at the same time a genius and an aesthete”.
On September 11th, 1997, the President of the French Republic, Mr. Jacques Chirac, conferred on him the title of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur. This decoration was consigned to him by the French Ambassador in Rome, Mr. Jean-Bernard Mérimée.
On December 18th, 1997 he received the “France-Italie” Award from the Italian Chamber of Commerce for France for his long, active co-operation with the French automotive industry and for his commitment as Co-President of the Italian Committee for the realisation of the High Speed railway axis Paris-Lyon-Turin-Milan-Venice-Trieste.
On May 11th, 1998 he received the “Lion d’Oro”, the award that the Lions of Turin assign every year to a non-Lion from Turin whose work has brought prestige to the town.
On December 1st, 1998 he received in Paris the “Trophée du design” of L’Automobile Magazine as first car body designer in the world for the performances in the last twenty years.
On March 5th, 1999 he received in Rome from the President of the Italian Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro the Premio Leonardo, an award instituted by the Leonardo Committee, as the person who emblematically represents the best characteristics of “made in Italy” intended as harmonious fusion of creativity, tenacity and very high quality.
On February 27th, 2001 on the Occasion of the Geneva International Motor Show, he received the “Head of the Century in the International Automotive Hall of Fame” award of the German magazine auto welt, for his unique design creativity which made people call him the “Michelangelo of the 20th Century”.
On May 5th, 2001 he received from the Centro Mario Pannunzio of Turin the award “Torino libera” in recognition of the application by which he contributed in an original, critical and independent way to the responsibilities of the direction and development of the civil community.
On May 29th, 2002 he received in Pavia the International Award Girolamo Cardano “for his qualities of industrialist and valuable designer, unmatchable and world famous, and moreover for his intellectual and human gifts, he always manifested in every activity he undertook”.
On July 5th, 2002 at London's Royal Albert Hall he was given the Honorary Doctorate from the prestigious Royal College of Art in recognition of his great distinction both as a designer and as a design manager in over 50 years of activity.
On November 6th, 2002 he was given the Honorary Doctorate in industrial Design from the Politecnico of Milan in recognition of his whole professional activity, for having encouraged and promoted design as a cultural factor, so becoming one of the most outstanding supporters of the excellence of made in Italy in the world.
On May 30th, 2003 he received in New York the “Business and Culture Award”, prize awarded every year by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of New York to Italian personalities who, through their activity, have distinguished themselves for their role in advancing economic, cultural and political relationships between Italy and the United States.
On July 28th, 2003 he received in Spoleto the “Premio Nuova Spoleto” in the Business section, for the merits he acquired in Italy and abroad leading a Company which enjoys undiscussed worldwide prestige.
On May 13th, 2004 he received from the College for Creative Studies (CCS) of Detroit, one of the American’s leading arts education institutions, the honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree as “one of the most innovative automotive executives of our times”.
On January 26th, 2005 he received in Paris the Palme d’Or du Festival Automobile International for his particularly outstanding personality active over the past two decades and for having associated his name with some of the most attractive contemporary bodywork designs, but also with several magnificent commercial successes.
On September 23rd, 2005 he was appointed Life Senator by the President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi for honouring the Country by high merits in the social field.
On December 6th, 2005 he received in Paris the "Trophée d’Honneur" of the French magazine L’Automobile Magazine, in recognition of his activity and of the 75 years of Pininfarina.
On January 11th, 2006 he received at the Brussels Motor Show – during a ceremony held at the presence of Prince Philip of Belgium – the “Prix européen de design automobile”, recognition “to the whole of his career in the prestigious company that brings his name”.
On January 27th, 2006 he received from the municipality of Grugliasco and the Cojtà Gruliascheisa the Award “La Gru d’Oro”, for having given, by his businnessman’s activities, prestige and lustre to the town in the world.
On June 13th , 2007 he received in Turin the “Melvin Jones Fellowship”, the highest honour by which the Lions Clubs International Foundation recognizes a person’s commitment to humanitarian service.
On October 16th, 2007 he has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn (Michigan) as considered “among the great personalities who have profoundly affected the global motor vehicle industry”.
On March 4th, 2008 he has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame of Automotive News Europe not only for having create some of the most famous cars and concepts of the second half of the 20th century, but also for having turned his Father’s small design and coachbuilding business into an industrial conglomerate.
The award of the grade of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, the admission to the Royal Society of Arts and the Career Award Compasso d’Oro are all honours previously attributed to his Father, Battista Pininfarina, something quite unique in the history of these institutions.
MEMBERSHIPS
• Circolo Golf Torino: President from March 1996 to April 2005
• Società del Whist, Accademia Filarmonica
• Rotary Club Torino
• Circolo Subalpino – Torino
SPORTS
Golf
Sailing
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Sergio Pininfarina
