India’s Tata Motors has really been on the move as of late. The Indian automaker first unveiled the world’s cheapest car — the Nano – and then purchased the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands from Ford . Tata has also expressed an interest in purchasing a stake in Ferrari and now comes word that Tata is planning to take a minority stake in Pininfarina.
According to Automotive News, Tata will partner with French industrial group Bollore to take a minority stake in the Italian design and engineering firm.
It remains unclear exactly how much the stake will be worth, but Pininfarina’s shareholders are expected to approve a 100 million euro capital increase on Tuesday.
Pininfarina is in the midst of some financial trouble, with losses growing to 115 million euros last year — up from a 22 million euro loss in 2006.
Despite the investment by Tata and Bollore, the Pininfarina family will still be the majority shareholder in the company, although their stake will fall from 55 percent to about 30.
Pininfarina is best known for its work with Ferrari , but the Italian company currently sees about 30 percent of its business from Chinese automakers.
