Italdesign Giugiaro is due to make an announcement “in the next few days” with widespread speculation it is to be the subject of a takeover by Volkswagen.
The Italdesign Giugiaro Group – including subsidiary and associated companies – has over 45,000 sq m of production space and more than 1,100 employees and has five managerial groups that handle more than 30 operating divisions to give carmakers a comprehensive consulting service.
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“All this makes the company able to perform the assignment of a complete programme – from definition of the style to pre-series [production] assistance – as well as… stylistic research, production engineering of body subgroups, building prototypes and experimental machining,” the company’s website says.
The design process is grouped into four macro areas: styling, engineering, prototyping and testing. The areas are autonomous but take a complementary approach to their work.
A unit called Giugiaro Design has worked with prominent Italian and international brands in several industrial sectors: cameras (Nikon), telephony systems (Telecom Italia, Swatch), household appliances (Merloni), electrotechnics (Siemens), information technology (Apple), watch-making (Seiko), interior design (Cinova, Del Tongo, Fiam), cosmetics (L’Oreal, Shiseido), television (Rai, Telepiù now Sky).
The company started in February 1968, under a different name, and an early assignment was to develop the Alfasud for Alfa Romeo. More recent designs for the brand include the Brera coupe.
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By GlobalDataVW is said to have been eyeing the Turin-based company with a view to expanding its design expertise as it looks to drive sales of up to 10m vehicles per year.
ItalDesign’s styling, engineering, prototyping and testing abilities, combined with a virtual reality centre to help with all of this, would appear to be a good acquisition – Italian styling flair and associated additional development facilities should blend well with a solid German engineering tradition.
