1990

New research prototypes are developed in the Nineties, many of them directed at tackling energy and environmental problems: the CNR E2 of 1990, the Ethos and the GM Chrono of 1991, the Fiat Cinquecento pick-up of 1992, the Ethos 2 of 1993, the Ethos 3 of 1994 and the Ethos 3 EV of 1995, the Honda Argento Vivo of 1995, the Fiat Sing and Song and CNR Eta Beta of 1996, the Peugeot Nautilus of 1997, the Alfa Romeo Dardo of 1998, the Wish and the Metrocubo of 1999.

Pininfarina Deutschland Gmbh is set up to operate in the German market in the field of car engineering, tooling and model making.

Design activities in the Nineties in cooperation with manufacturers produce the Ferrari 512 TR, 456 GT 2+2, the Peugeot 306 Cabriolet, the Ferrari F355 Berlinetta, F355 Spider and F50, the Alfa Romeo Spider and GTV, the Ferrari 550 Maranello and 456M , the Peugeot 406 Coupé and Saloon and the Ferrari 360 Modena and Spider.

Between 1992 and 1994 the range manufactured by Pininfarina is completely renewed with four new models: the Ferrari 456 GT, the Coupé Fiat, the Peugeot 306 Cabriolet and the Bentley Azure. Production of the Lancia k Station Wagon is added in 1996.

About half a million people visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal to see the exhibition “Beauté Mobile: un siècle de chef d’oeuvres automobiles”, where Pininfarina is invited to illustrate the future of the car through the Ethos research project.

Pininfarina starts cooperation with Chinese company Hafei Industrial Group Corporation providing styling, engineering and development services in the automotive field.
On show in Paris the Peugeot 406 Coupé: designed, developed and produced by Pininfarina, the 406 Coupé receives many important prizes, for the excellence and quality of its design: “The Most Beautiful Coupé of the World 1997”, Milan Triennale, “Car Design Award 1997”, Turin, “The Most Beautiful Car of the Year 1998”, Festival of Chamonix.

An agreement is made with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation for the production of the Pajero Pinin in the new Pininfarina plant in Bairo Canavese, Italy.
At the Geneva Motor Show the Peugeot Nautilus is presented: an exciting study of form meant to interpret in purely stylistic terms the theme of large and high-class sporty sedans.

A third manufacturing plant in San Giorgio Canavese is opened.
The Alfa Romeo Dardo, presented in Turin, a pure formal study, is a spider with a powerful impact. “Car of the Year”1998, the Dardo is intended to be a homage to a trademark, Alfa Romeo, that incarnates several of the finest qualities of Italian cars: sportiness, imagination, technology and performance.

The Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin joins Pininfarina’s production range, which also includes the Bentley Azure, the Coupé Fiat, the Lancia k Station Wagon, the Peugeot 306 Cabriolet and 406 Coupé.
Frankfurt sees the debut of Metrocubo, a further project of an environmentally-friendly car, developed with 9 technical partners and in particular with Michelin, and Fiat Wish, conceived by Pininfarina to commemorate the Centenary Fiat, a technological study for a 2+2 convertible capable of being transformed in a few seconds from Cabriolet to Coupé and back.
World debut of the Ferrari 360 Modena, fruit of the technical, functional and aerodynamic progress, which has been translated into an innovative shape but always in the tradition of pure Ferrari personality.