Michael Perschke

I mourn the untimely passing yesterday of Paolo Pininfarina, scion of one of the most illustrious families of Italy. This was a great personal loss for me. When we were bidding to acquire his flagship design company, we told Paolo that our goal was to turn his grandfather Battista’s dream of producing a car under his own family name into reality. Historically, Pininfarina had designed the most aesthetically beautiful cars only for manufacturers like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Peugeot. So Battista (nicknamed ‘pinin’) never had the pleasure of seeing his name on the front of the car. After acquiring the company, we went about designing the Pininfarina Battista electric hypercar and when it was launched, we shared an enormous sense of fulfilment with Paolo. The dream had been fulfilled. Paolo remained Chairman of Pininfarina till his passing and we will miss his custodianship of the brand, his strong design sensibilities and his bonds with our company. And I will personally miss the warmth of all the good times I enjoyed together with him. Paolo, I know you are driving on some heavenly highway, towards your grandfather, who will tell you how proud of you he is. May your soul always be in peace. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽