Oh one bad news after another. One of the foremost automotive design going back to 1930, the Italian car design company and coachbuilder Pininfarina has had a long and illustrious history, with a clientele of big-name automakers that include Ferrari, Maserati, and Cadillac. By the end of January, the company’s design house will not be majority-owned by the Pininfarina family anymore, thanks to accumulated debts amounting to over a billion dollars.

According to sources, the Pininfarina family is set to give up 50.6% of the company’s shares by the end of January. With the company accumulating some $1.2 billion in debts, the ill-timed death of Andrea Pininfarina some months ago, and the backlash of the global financial crisis, the move to sell shares has become inevitable.

Several names have already been mentioned as potential takers for the majority stake. The list includes Vincent Bollore, a French tycoon who had worked previously on an electric car jointly developed with Pininfarina, and Ratan Tata, owner of Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover. Tata, however, is already embattled by the loss of revenue due to the recession, making a bid from that angle a bit farfetched.

Source: GoAuto