New Cars Zone: July 2012

2012 Renault Clio 4 A new image, purportedly of the upcoming fourth-generation Renault Clio, has appeared on French automotive blog autosblog today. The website has confirmed that details and the source of the image are unknown, leaving only guesses as to whether this is in fact the new Renault Clio 4.

The new image follows a trio of renderings that surfaced in early 2009, allegedly leaked from Renault’s own design department.

Where the earlier images lacked the finer details of a complete model, this latest photo or rendering appears market-ready – the title and glowing backdrop even suggesting it may be part of an upcoming advertising campaign.

Although Renault has yet to offer any launch dates or details at all for its next-generation Clio, it is expected to go on sale in Europe in mid- to late-2011 as a 2012 model. The Clio 4 will replace the third-generation Clio, which launched in late 2006, benefiting from a facelift in 2009.

In Australia, the Clio is represented only by the performance-oriented Renaultsport variant, most recently launched in the form of the Clio Renault Sport 200 Cup and 200 Cup Trophee.

Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.

Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers, including Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, Jaguar, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia. It also has designed trams in France, high-speed trains in Holland, and trolleys in the USA. Since the 1980s Pininfarina has been consulted on industrial and interior design.
Pininfarina was run by Battista's grandson Andrea Pininfarina until his death in 2008. Andrea's younger brother Paolo Pininfarina was appointed as successor.
The Pininfarina Group employs more than 3,000 people in subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco and China. Pininfarina is registered and publicly traded on the Borsa Italiana (Milan Stock Exchange).

The company was founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina.
Pininfarina was run by Battista's grandson Andrea Pininfarina until his death in 2008. Andrea's younger brother Paolo Pininfarina was then appointed as successor.
After World War II, a number of automotive manufacturers were interested in working with Pininfarina, whose highly innovative Cisitalia 202 design had attracted wide attention.

The subsequent cooperation with Nash Motors resulted in high-volume production of Pininfarina designs and provided a major entree into the United States market. In 1952, Pininfarina visited the U.S. for the unveiling of his design for the Nash Ambassador and Statesman lines, which, although they did carry some details of Pininfarina's design, were largely designed by Nash's then-new in-house styling staff when the original Farina-designed model proved unsuited to American tastes. The Nash-Healey sports car body was, however, completely designed and assembled in limited numbers from 1952 to 1954 at Pininfarina's Turin facilities. Nash heavily advertised its link to the famous Italian designer, much as Studebaker promoted its longtime association with Raymond Loewy. As a result of Nash's marketing efforts, Pininfarina became well known in the United States. Pininfarina also built the bodies for the limited-series Cadillac Eldorado Brougham for General Motors in 1959 and 1960, assembled them and sent them back to the U.S. There were 99 Broughams built in 1959 and 101 in 1960.

A similar arrangement was repeated in the late 1980s when Pininfarina designed (and partially assembled) the Cadillac Allanté. The car's bodies were assembled and painted in Italy before being flown to Detroit for final vehicle assembly.

Pininfarina Sverige AB in Uddevalla, Sweden, was established in 2003 as a joint venture (JV) between Volvo Cars and Pininfarina. The JV is owned 60% by Pininfarina and 40% by Volvo.
The C70 model—the first car built by the joint venture—was launched on 13 April 2006, sharing the Volvo P1 platform used in the S40. This vehicle, designed by John Kinsey, is a coupé convertible featuring a three piece retractable metal hardtop that can raise or lower in less than 30 seconds. The new C70 replaces both the current cabriolet/convertible and the coupé absent from Volvo's lineup since 2003. For the first time, the C70 will be offered with a normally aspirated gasoline engine, as well as diesel engines with variable geometry turbocharger and common-rail direct injection.

Pininfarina now designs, manufactures, assembles, and tests prototypes and production vehicles under contract for other automakers.

Current production
Alfa Romeo Brera in the Pininfarina plant in San Giorgio Canavese (Turin), Italy
Alfa Romeo Spider in the Pininfarina plant in San Giorgio Canavese
Volvo C70 at the Pininfarina plant in Uddevalla, Sweden
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
Ferrari 458
Maserati Quattroporte
Maserati GranTurismo
Ferrari California
Interior of the new Peugeot Expert

In addition to production vehicles, Pininfarina creates prototype, show, and custom cars for auto manufacturers, as well as private clients. Most prototypes—such as the Ferrari Mythos—have served solely as concept cars, although several have become production models, including the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Ferrari F50.

A recent privately commissioned custom example was the Ferrari P4/5 of 2006, a one-car rebody (changing the exterior design) of the Enzo Ferrari according to the client's specifications. Its design began in September 2005 with sketches by Jason Castriota moving through computer aided sculpture and stringent wind tunnel testing. More than 200 components were designed especially for the car though the engine, drivetrain and many other components are simply modified from the original Enzo Ferrari. The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is unchanged from the Enzo it was derived from. The P4/5 was publicly revealed on August 18, 2006 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and shown again at the Paris Motor Show in late September. Another recent prototype is the Pininfarina Nido, a two seater sub-compact that could possibly make airbags obsolete.
The Pininfarina B0 solar-electric concept, designed with Bolloré was shown at the 2008 Paris Motor Show featuring a range between charges of more than 150 miles (241 km) with an electronically limited 88-mile-per-hour (142 km/h) top speed, and an estimated acceleration to 37 miles per hour (60 km/h) in 6.3 seconds. The car has solar panels on the roof and on the nose, while its battery pack is said to last up to 125,000 miles (201,168 km).
The company revealed a new Alfa Romeo Spider Concept at the Geneva Motor Show on 2 March 2010.

Pininfarina has an area dedicated to the new electric car Pininfarina Bolloré. Batteries are produced by the French Bolloré Group.
Pininfarina, has introduced its own electric vehicle concept, the Pininfarina B0 (pronounced "B Zero"). The four-seat hatchback features a solid-state lithium-polymer battery, supercapacitors, and a roof- integrated solar panel to achieve a range of 153 miles (246 km). Developed in partnership with the Bolore Group, the vehicle is slated for limited production in 2009.