Shanghai, April 16, 2019 – Pininfarina presents two stunning new designs at the Shanghai Motor Show, both expressing a perfect combination of the best Italian design and eco-friendly technology. From the collaboration wih Karma Automotive comes the all-new Karma Pininfarina GT, while Grove Hydrogen Automotive Company Limited unveils a new concept car created by China based team of Pininfarina Shanghai.

"We bring to China – says CEO Silvio Pietro Angori - our renowned expertise in designing masterpieces on four wheels both for well-known brands and new comers who need our support to define their brand identity and their design language. Our Italian touch in styling meets our special focus on sustainable mobility and state-of-the-art technology, which are part of the Company’s evolution. What we present in Shanghai confirms that we innovate today, but we also provide solutions for a better tomorrow".

KARMA PININFARINA GT

Southern California-based automaker Karma Automotive, producer of luxury electric vehicles, shares the first stunning result of the partnership with Pininfarina: the Karma Pininfarina GT, a true “Gran Turismo,” with a two-door layout and luxurious appointments throughout. Karma Automotive first approached Pininfarina in August 2018 to invite the Italian design house to collaborate on an all-new 2020 Karma Revero-based project. Pininfarina shared its first sketches with Karma last September, and the build program officially started in December.
The 2020 Karma Revero is "a magnificent, elegant, and statuary vehicle that sparks a lot of emotion," but Pininfarina wanted to create a more assertive vehicle, something with unique "Italian sports car" flair. It settled on a GT, or “Gran Turismo”. Pininfarina started its GT build by stripping down its donor Revero and prepping the all-aluminum frame to mate with a totally new, two-door body.

The Karma Pininfarina GT respects the Revero's recognizable proportions, but its exterior is drastically different. Most notably, this is a two-door coupe, which required Pininfarina to build new body sides from the ground up. The car expresses its unique personality through choice modifications made by Pininfarina. Surface language is simplified, with relaxed shoulders and a softer feature line, and the Karma Pininfarina GT has flush door handles in order to keep body volumes as pure as possible.
A tasteful contrasting black roof complements bone gray paint, and trim work is finished in either piano black or smoked gun metal gray. Karma Pininfarina GT’s front end is more aggressive, with a symmetrically slatted grille and squinty LED headlights. The outside corners of the front fascia kick upward to match the dramatically styled, cross-cutting rocker panels that ground the GT. A pair of boomerang-shaped LED taillights frame an elegant, powerful rear end. The Karma Pininfarina GT’s seductive, sucked-in waistline looks best in plan view, but its proud stance is better appreciated from a crouch.
White and off-white leathers blanket the bright, inviting interior, and elegant burgundy piping underlines the main shapes of the cabin and contrasts nicely with the creamy leather. The seats feature a new quilting scheme to emphasize the sensation of comfort. Bits of soft, velvetlike nubuck hide and satin aluminum trim create a modern atmosphere with a hint of old-world sophistication. Multitone stitching adds to the atmosphere of the carefully elevated interior, and a small, embossed Italian flag on the seat backrests is a playful reminder of the Karma Pininfarina GT ’s providence.
The Karma Pininfarina GT is therefore a true Pininfarina, and a great Karma; if the Karma Pininfarina GT piques the interest of enough enthusiasts, Karma Automotive will introduce a limited run of production vehicles. If that happens, Pininfarina will build the cars in its atelier outside of Turin and will invite customers so they can personally configure their GT, making their car a “tailored suit”, as only Pininfarina can do. For now, though, Karma Automotive is capturing select characteristics of the Karma Pininfarina GT and working them into forthcoming production vehicles.

GROVE CONCEPT CAR BY PININFARINA

Grove Hydrogen Automotive Company Limited announced a wide-ranging cooperation with Pininfarina subsidiary in Shanghai. The young aggressive Hydrogen Fuel Cell Firm looks to benefit from almost 90 years of Pininfarina history in all facets of the car from Styling to Engineering and to enhance the European feel of Grove Cars. The first result of the cooperation is a concept car designed by Pininfarina Shanghai. Pininfarina is also supporting other graphical work for the Grove Brand which will emerge over the coming months. Grove Brand launches at the Shanghai Motorshow the world's first all Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Mass Production Company. Based in Wuhan China with its own design Centre in Barcelona, Grove compliments its European heritage with that of Pininfarina. Grove's offering of a truly environmentally friendly solution is perfectly complimented by the wealth of experience of Pininfarina. A long history of advanced propulsion vehicles including Hydrogen Fuel Cell Sports cars have come from the Styling and Development arms of Pininfarina.

The technology employed in the Grove car is a combination of the most advanced concepts in both Body and Powertrain. Fuel Cell Technology is now accelerating rapidly with many companies including Parent company of Grove, IGE, leading the way. Combining this with Carbon Fibre and Composite technology allows Grove to maximise the benefit of having Hydrogen, a lighter than air (oxygen) carrier of energy on board in a light weight car. These technologies provide the platform for the most technologically advanced vehicle ever seen, presented in a stylish, sporty and daring shape. The team of Pininfarina Shanghai has been developing future variants of Grove Models, which will be seen in the coming months and years. Offering Pininfarina’s virtues of style and expertise combined with an understanding of the world’s most Dynamic Environment in China as it sets the trends for the next Century. Grove cars will be seen on the road in the coming year and then quickly accelerating in number of variants into 2020. Initially offered in during 2020 Grove is poised to become a world leader in Clean transportation.

Pininfarina in China

These two new launches at Auto Shanghai underline Pininfarina’s commitment to the Chinese market.
The brand has recently expanded its operations in China under the guidance of General Manager Simone Tassi, and has registered a significant increase in the number of both clients and employees.
Pininfarina has been the first Italian design house to provide styling and engineering services to Chinese car manufacturers from 1996 onwards. In 2010 Pininfarina Shanghai was set up with the aim of locating a design development satellite in Shanghai, the strategic Automotive site for the Asian area. Today Pininfarina Shanghai is a design studio able to offer to the Chinese market a 360° range of design services, from automotive to architecture and industrial design. Clients list has doubled in the last two years and includes Top 10 OEMs (such as Chery, Dongfeng, Changan, GAC, JAC and others) as well as new EV companies. Pininfarina Shanghai is able to support Chinese automakers from the sketching phase and design language definition to the delivery of showcars and concept cars. Highly commercially successful vehicles have been designed for Chinese OEMs, such as the DX7, the first outcome of collaboration between Pininfarina and South East Motor-SEM, which was followed by compact SUV DX3. For Hong Kong’s high-tech brand Hybrid Kinetic Group Limited Pininfarina has developed an entire family of electric cars: H600 luxury saloon presented at the Geneva Motor Show 2017, K550 5-seater and K750 7-seater SUVs presented at the Shanghai Motor Show 2017, HK GT, successfully unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2018, the H500 saloon and the 4-seater K350 SUV unveiled at the Auto China 2018.

Pininfarina's business in Asia is now expanding from automotive to architecture and industrial design.
On October 2018 a strategic collaboration has been signed with Hisense, one of the largest consumer electronics and home appliances company in the world, in addition to other important collaborations with Chinese manufacturers into transportation and industrial design.
Pininfarina has also appointed IMG as its global licensing representative in a multi-year agreement. The partnership with IMG, which has a solid presence in China, will see the Pininfarina brand licensed across a selection of consumer categories bringing Pininfarina’s award-winning designs to a wider selection of products and consumers with a strong focus on the lifestyle sector, including technical sportswear, electronics, car accessories, home furnishings, travel goods and real estate projects.
In 2017 the first Pininfarina architectural project in China has been announced. The focus is on Higold Headquarter, a building that will rise in Shunde. Pininfarina Architecture has authored the whole architectural project, from the façade design to the landscape.
Pininfarina is the first Company who has won the “Silk Road” Award among the 2017 China Awards organized by Italy China Foundation. The prize has been withdrawn by CEO Silvio Pietro Angori during an award ceremony gathering companies, institutions and Italian and Chinese personalities who best captured the opportunities offered by economic and cultural relations between Italy and China. Pininfarina has been awarded, it is stated in the motivation, "for the long and significant growth path in China, started in the Nineties and continued successfully until the opening of the Shanghai office and the results obtained in recent years. The award is given to Pininfarina also for having established in its development path lasting and profitable relationships with many of the Countries that will be protagonists of the Belt and Road Initiative, dreamed and launched by the Chinese President Xi Jinping".
On December 2017 Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai dedicated to Pininfarina a part of his private stay in Turin, confirming the Company’s twenty-year commitment to China. “China is the largest sustainable mobility market in the world - declared the Vice Premier during the visit. - We produce 50% of electric cars globally. The visit confirmed Pininfarina’s know-how and expertise in this field. Therefore we hope for the near future a win-win partnership between the prestigious Italian brand and the Chinese government