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An automobile is a piece of art, and vehicle designers are revered as demigods by enthusiasts all over the world.
However, with the mind-blogging pace at which automation is gaining ground, will designers lose their charm, and cars, now a thing of pride, be reduced to just machines taking one from one place to another?
Silvio Pietro Angori, CEO at Pininfarina SpA, the iconic Italian design firm, now a Mahindra Group firm, believes it is not going to happen.
According to him, personalisation – particularly the interiors – will drive innovations in design, and designing becoming much more important.
“What it means is that you don’t need to drive that car (autonomous), it has an electric powertrain, it has so much space in any compartment and you can arrange the architecture of the ceiling as you best wish.
“Certain things like the interiors should be and must be adaptable to the customer. Just like you personalise your iPhone and when you change a mobile you migrate what you have on that phone..., is the same thing you would want to do with your car….,” Angori, who is on a visit to India to meet shareholders, told BusinessLine in an interview.
“So, when you are calling an Uber to pick you up, you will specify what colours of the interior you want to have.
“The new technologies, the layers, it can be belt, adjustments can be done as per your wish, will provide you an environment according to your wish.
“And then you book another car, another Uber and you will find the exact same things if you wish to have,” he said talking on changing the future of vehicles due to automation.
Financial stabilityPininfarina, which has designed such marquee brands as Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac and Maserati, is now a Mahindra Group company, with Mahindra & Mahindra and Tech Mahindra acquiring a 76 per cent stake in 2015, while the remaining is held by public shareholders.
The acquisition has brought in a much-needed financial stability to Pininfarina, which over the past few years had to change its business model and reinvent itself.
“We have opened up new business opportunities and are now preparing to be in a leading position in the market segments we compete,” Angori added.
The company is now looking to enter West Asia, especially Turkey.
Like in the US, the company is also keen to design cars for worthy individuals in India.
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