Published: Jan 20, 2011

Chinas BAIC Looking to Buy Pininfarina

The world-famous, and perhaps finest, automotive design house has been in serious financial trouble. Since mid-2009, there have been reports the Pininfarina family has wanted to sell of their majority stake for unknown reasons. Regardless of what they may be, the Italian design house will not be able to survive on its own. A similar fate happened to that other famous studio, ItalDesign, last year when Volkswagen Group bought a majority stake.

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This time, however, it's China's Beijing Automotive Industry Corp. (BAIC) who could end up being the saving grace. The ever-growing Chinese company, who recently launched their first MG-badged car, has submitted a bid to buy Pininfarina. BAIC seems to be on a buying streak these days, as they also paid GM $200 million for three platforms and two engines from Saab, along with the design of the old 9-5 sedan. The plan is to have a rebadged version, with help from Pininfarina, of the old 9-5 at this year's Shanghai Motor Show.

Regardless of what a final deal may be, Chinese car companies are searching the world for poorly performing, yet famous automotive marquees. Good thing GM, Ford, and Chrysler are getting their acts together.

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Chinas BAIC Looking to Buy Pininfarina

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