Iundustrie Pininfarina: The New Customer Decision

Competitive Environment In the near term, the environment in the European automobile market appears bleak and may result in a shakeout that increases pressure for change on European manufacturers. Many of the changed environmental factors are the direct or indirect result of the superior manufacturing capabilities of Japanese and other non-European firms. Competitive Environment Bleak 1. The market has grown only slowly in the past two years and is more than 10 per cent below the 1991 high …

…If capabilities of volume production and demands for quality improvement continue to expand, Pininfarina may have few choices - shrink or become world-class volume producer. The contract may provide a path to building necessary volume produce skills. CASE UPDATE Pininfarina accepted the contract essentially as offered and with details still not completely specified. By May of 1997, reports in the financial press suggested Pininfarina had also been selected to manufacture a new Honda Roadster, beginning in 1999.