cars news 10: Mahindra to Buy Pininfarina for $185 Million

Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s largest maker of SUVs, has confirmed it will purchase Italian car designer Pininfarina. The deal is worth about 168 million euros (about $185 million), reports Bloomberg.

The sale is expected to go through during the first half of 2016. After the hand-off, Pininfarina will remain an independent company with its own listing in Milan.

As part of the plan, Mahindra will also invest 20 million euros in Pininfarina as the design firm struggles to shake off years of debt. The Italian company has remained unprofitable for 10 of the last 11 years and not too long ago shut down a division that built cars for other manufacturers. In a statement, Mahindra Group says it will benefit from Pininfarina’s strong influence in Italy and Germany as well as in the U.S. and China.

“The legendary high-end design credentials of Pininfarina will significantly enhance the design capabilities of the entire Mahindra group,” Chairman Anand Mahindra said in a statement. “Given the increasing design sensibilities of today’s consumers, product design will greatly influence customer choice.”

Mahindra already has a standing relationship with Pininfarina, since both companies have worked together on SUVs as well as the Halo electric sports car concept that debuted last year. Mahindra also recently took over South Korean carmaker Ssangyong and the motorcycle unit of PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Source: Bloomberg, Mahindra