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De Tomaso was founded in 1959 as one of Italy’s premium sports car makers. In 2004, one year after founder Alejandro De Tomaso’s death, the company filed for bankruptcy. A former Fiat executive now plans to revive it.
Gian Mario Rossignolo bought the brand from an Italian bankruptcy court earlier this month, and plans to resurrect it with a three-model lineup. Rossignolo aims to build 8000 De Tomaso cars per year once the company gets going. Initially, the new De Tomaso company will invest €116 million ($128 million) in the project over the next four years.
De Tomaso became an iconic Italian brand because of its coupes, but it did build a sedan based on the Maserati Quattroporte in the early ‘70s. Rossignolo’s product lineup also includes a luxury sedan to be a “volume seller” alongside a luxury crossover. He plans for around 3000 sales each of the sedan and crossover and 2000 sales of the coupe. All three of the models will use lightweight aluminum architecture.
To produce the cars, Rossignolo signed an initial contract to rent a Pininfarina factory just outside of Turin, Italy. The possible deal with Pininfarina comes after Rossignolo’s failed attempt to buy Bertone’s contract manufacturing business, which has since been acquired by Fiat. If Rossignolo’s plans come to fruition, he will have the first De Tomaso model ready to show at the 2011 Geneva auto show.
Source: Automotive News
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