Pininfarina H2 Speed hypercar concept.
TURIN: Only quite recently, it was being reported that the automotive design house ItalDesign was launching a new supercar under its own branding. Now it turns out that the legendary Pininfarina design house is doing something similar, but on what looks to be a bigger scale.
While ItalDesign's plans so far revolve solely around its impressive Zeouno supercar, Pininfarina seems to have a well thought-out plan that goes beyond the first model under its own name. The first Pininfarina-branded model is set to be an all-electric hypercar that looks to be the perfect platform to gain attention and generate publicity, but following on from there will be SUVs as well as the flagship vehicle that will then bring in the much-needed profitability.
An initial investment of US$100mil (RM392mil) from Pininfarina's Indian parent company Mahindra will get things underway for the new auto brand that will be headed by former Audi India boss Michael Perschke, and already plans to produce four vehicles over the first five years.
Despite the fact Pininfarina has worked with a number of mainstream brands over the years to produce some reasonably priced, but still beautiful cars, don't expect the first car it will produce to be affordable.
The electric hypercar, which is codenamed PF-Zero, will be built using a modular platform that has been developed together with Croatian manufacturer Rimac and Mahindra's Formula E outfit.
The finished car will compete directly with the Bugatti Chiron, so that tells us the price will be stratospheric, although it is expected the Pininfarina will boast even more power than the Chiron's 1,479hp. To get an idea of what the Pininfarina might look like we only have to think back a few weeks to the H2 Speed hyrogen fuel cell concept the company had on display at the Geneva Motor Show.
The SUVs that are to follow should be considerably more affordable though. The biggest is said to be a high-performance rival to the Lamborghini Urus that's codenamed PF-One, but the other two SUVs that are planned will be designed to compete against the likes of the Porsche Cayenne and Macan.
Pininfarina is expected to announce its plans in public at the first Formula E race to be held in Rome on April 14.
