Pininfarina looks at acquisitions after return to profit

Italian car designer Pininfarina is looking at acquisitions after returning to profit for the first time in three years, CEO Silvio Angori said.

“We can move on after the restructuring and look actively to opportunities in the market for inorganic growth, in addition to our organic growth plans,” Angori said in a phone interview.

The company, which has designed some of the most iconic Ferrari sports cars, swung to a profit of 2.4 million euros ($2.6 million) last year, for the first time since its restructuring process started in 2019.

Cost cuts, refocusing on the automotive business helped the restructuring succeed, Angori said.

Pininfarina, founded in 1930 by Battista “Pinin” Farina, was bought in 2015 by India’s Mahindra & Mahindra.

Its other businesses are micro-mobility, city cars with low environmental impact, yachts and urban design.

Potential targets include digital designers, to eventually expand the business of consumer-experience services and virtual reality technologies, the CEO said.

Angori aims to gradually increase the company’s revenues from its non-automotive business to 50 percent of the total, from 25 percent now, during the next three years.

“Automotive will still be key, but we want to widen more our range of vision and of action,” Angori said.