Car design head Pininfarina dies in road crash

Andrea Pininfarina, head of the company which designs Ferraris, Fiats and the Ford Focus, died in a road crash in the early hours of yesterday near the Italian city of Turin, riding his Vespa scooter.

Mr Pininfarina, 51, was chairman and chief executive of the company founded in 1930. He was the grandson of founder Battista "Pinin" Farina and his death prompted speculation that the entrance of new investors will speed up, sending its shares sharply higher.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said in a statement Mr Pininfarina was "the representative of a dynasty that helped bring the story of 'made in Italy' to the world".

Fiat and Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo praised his business acumen. "Italy, Turin and the Fiat group have lost a business figure who knew how to follow and develop the work of his grandfather Pinin and his father Sergio," Montezemolo said in a statement.

The driver of the car, 78-year-old Giuliano Salmi, was taken to hospital suffering from shock.

"I didn't see him, I was going slowly and I really didn't see him," Salmi said, according to local news agency Ansa.

Andrea Pininfarina was born in Turin, the centre of Italy's car industry, on June 26, 1957 and joined the family business in 1983 after gaining a degree in mechanical engineering.

He was married to Italian aristocrat Cristina Maddalena Pellion di Persano and they had three children.

Pininfarina SpA, which designed Ferraris such as the Dino and Testarossa, boasts of "Experience, Creativity, Innovation" on its website www.pininfarina.com, where it says it is a company of "art, design, innovation. The cars of kings."

News of the chief executive's death prompted market speculation that its ownership - currently in the hands of the family with a 55 per cent stake - could quickly change.

The shares jumped so high they had to be suspended in Milan for excessive gains and were indicated up over 13 per cent pending a resumption of trade.