A cultural exchange between Shanghai and Cambiano has empowered Pininfarina

In this modern era of design, staying true to one’s design principles while accelerating the time to market is key. Product cycles continue to shorten – in some cases going from blank sheet to finished product in just 18 months – but expectations for quality remain.

The influence of ‘China Speed’ has been palpable in recent years and it already feels like the new normal. For some players, navigating that shift will have been a real challenge, but not so for Pininfarina, which with deep roots in China has been immersed in that shift towards creativity-at-pace. Leading its Shanghai studio is an experienced Italian designer in Matteo Fioravanti who, having lived in China for quite some time, knows the market inside out. Compressed timelines, he explains, no longer come as a shock.

“China is a very high consuming market, so if you want to succeed you need new products as quick as possible,” says the senior VP of design at Pininfarina Shanghai. “The challenge for designers is that you never really stop. You always must find a new way to tap the market and accelerate the process of design. This stimulates us to make better products faster, which is very demanding, but some designers like it that way.”

We need to be able to adapt, and our team of designers does this daily

The Pininfarina mothership back in Turin has benefitted from this bricks and mortar outpost in many ways: designers have learned first-hand how China operates, how other global markets might follow, and the kind of tools that can be employed to manage that spike in speed.

But while speed is in vogue, the appreciation for form and beauty has been around far longer. As such, Pininfarina balances its heritage in classic design principles while embracing different work cultures. 

Stefano Manini, head of interiors for Pininfarina in Italy, says the exchange between Italy and China has helped designers to learn the art of adaptability – accelerating where needed while maintaining the care and attention expected of one of the world’s most iconic design houses. “We need to be able to adapt,” says Manini, “and our team of designers does this daily.”

In some respects, it can be boiled down to a combination of China’s expertise in cutting-edge software, and Italy’s mastery of proportions and craftsmanship. Merging those two cultures has created the best of both worlds. 

“At the base there is always a creative mind, and the creative mind can doodle with a pen and paper, or it can provide input to the latest AI software,” Fioravanti points out.

We can now develop more things in less time, and present in a way that's easier for customers to understand

China Speed has also influenced how designs are presented. A stunning sketch may not cut it in the eyes of a client today, instead requiring an immersive experience in 3D. “The Asian market in general really desires photorealistic visuals,” says Manini. “It’s not only about the typical Italian design heritage – proportions, timeless beauty – but also about showing the reality of what the final product will be. That's a substantial difference between Europe and Asia.”

“Customers know that the reality of design has changed, and they expect to see photorealistic pictures and animations,” agrees Fioravanti. “The added value is that we are now able to develop more things in less time, and present it in a way that is easier for the customer to understand.”

Another obvious low-hanging fruit to Pininfarina’s Sino-European workflow is the time difference. 

“If a customer needs extra design support, we can have a 24-hour loop of design that never stops,” says Fioravanti. “If it is the end of the working day here in China, we can share our feedback to Italy and the job continues. In the morning the feedback is already resolved, and vice versa. It is incredibly useful.”

All of this is helping to shape Pininfarina’s future as a global design house as it evolves to meet the demands of contemporary design, and at Car Design Dialogues Milan we will hear first-hand about how the team is working.