Andrea Pininfarina (26 June 1957 – 7 August 2008) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

engineer and manager, former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian mu ...

, founded by his grandfather Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930 and still controlled by the family. He was the son of

Sergio Pininfarina Sergio Pininfarina, born Sergio Farina, (8 September 1926
. – 3 July 2012) was an Italian automobile ...

and was married to Italian aristocrat Cristina Maddalena Pellion di Persano, with whom he had three children, Benedetta, Sergio and Luca. Pininfarina was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. In 1981 he graduated from Polytechnic of Turin as a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

and in 1982 was employed by Fruehauf corporation in the

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. In 1983 he joined the family business as Program Manager of the

Cadillac Allanté The Cadillac Allanté is a two-door, two-seater luxury roadster marketed by Cadillac from 1987 until 1993. It used a Cadillac chassis and running gear with a body built in Italy by coachbuilder Pininfarina. It was expensive to produce with ...

project at Pininfarina. In 1987 he was promoted to Co-General Manager of the company, and in 1988 he became General Manager. In 1994 he was again promoted to Managing Director, and in 2001 he assumed the responsibility of

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. Pininfarina briefly served as vice president of Italy's Confindustria industry lobby before his death in 2008. In 2004 he was named by

Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

as one of the "25 stars of Europe", in the category dedicated to innovators, while in 2005 he received the ''Eurostar 2005'' award from The Automotive News Europe, awarded to "top managers who have particularly distinguished themselves in the business sectors covered by their respective automotive companies." Pininfarina died while riding a

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooter (motorcycle), scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of ...

near the company’s headquarters in

Cambiano Cambiano ( pms, Cambiagn) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin. Cambiano borders the following municipalities: Pino Torinese, Chieri, Pecetto Torinese, M ...

outside

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, on the morning of 7 August 2008. According to police, a car driven by a 78-year-old man maneuvered from a side street around a parked lorry and pulled directly in front of Pininfarina.Translation
Conditions at the time of the accident were very foggy.

References

1957 births 2008 deaths Polytechnic University of Turin alumni Italian chief executives Italian mechanical engineers Motorcycle road incident deaths Automotive engineers from Turin Pininfarina people Road incident deaths in Italy 21st-century Italian engineers 20th-century Italian engineers {{Italy-business-bio-stub