Italdesign celebrates 55 years and keeps designing the future

Today, February 13, Italdesign is celebrating 55 years, with an eye to the future and strengthened by a unique and distinctive heritage. In 1968, Italdesign was the first to overthrow the stereotype of beauty applied only to elite vehicles produced in short runs, and its formula in the world of coachbuilders was new: work for large-scale production worldwide by offering the development of turnkey projects. The company has changed over the years. It has grown, and evolved continuously and competitively in terms of people, floor space, assets, services, projects, business sectors and markets.

Five years after its fiftieth anniversary and the launch of the NEXT 50 plan, Italdesign is celebrating a new step of its history with the implementation of several ambitious projects. It is a key moment for the metamorphosis that will embrace the entire company from the perspective of its strategy and communication, and productive viewpoint.

The first step of the change was to revise its global positioning and to present itself with a new and effective brand identity, a modern evolution of thecorporate logo and a new payoff, “Be Ideneers”. “Engineers of ideas” sums up the spirit that has distinguished Italdesign in the automotive sector, and more coherently in the mobility sector, for 55 years. In order to lead change, Italdesign has always ‘designed ideas’ and given them substance.

The opening of the Italdesign China headquarters in the third quarter of 2022 and its present-day full operativeness have contributed to broadening business opportunities in the country.The company is also exploring the possibility of strengthening its 360-degree presence overseas, to better support its customers in an area full of historic manufacturers, startups and newcomers in the mobility sector. 

Thanks to its strategic partnership with Capgemini, Italdesign has also picked up its pace going down the road leading to sustainability. The company is laying the foundations for monitoring and assessing its impact in order to draw up its first Corporate Sustainability Report based on sustainability policies and results. To meet the sustainability requirements inside and outside the company, the concepts of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Circular Economy and Sustainable Operations in the style, engineering and production activities are being analyzed on a daily basis. In the Corporate Social Responsibility area, Italdesign has structured several permanent and temporary activities that form the “Social pillar” of the Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) framework, with substantial involvement of the in-house workforce.

“Italdesign has a solid heritage,” said Antonio Casu, CEO. “Propensity to change and projection towards the future have distinguished us since 1968. We have been disruptive since the beginning of our history, and we continue to be so with our visionary creations. Climb-E is dedicated to our fifty-fifth anniversary. We developed it with Schindler Group and the Politecnico di Torino. It made its world debut few weeks ago at CES 2023 in Las Vegas It is a modular project that proposes a futuristic and inclusive mobility solution, and namely a capsule that – as the name itself states – ‘climbs’ on the structures of civil and residential buildings, so adding the third dimension to mobility. Is it a challenge that may seem improbable? Maybe, but it might meet with tangible confirmation if, for instance, we think about the 170 km-long vertical city under construction in the Saudi Arabian desert. Innovation has always been the common thread joining and directing our functions and activities, and design continues to play that same strategic role it played fifty-five years ago. With Joaquin Garcia on board as Head of Design, we will continue to bring forward new ideas and to give our strong and distinguishing contribution. We will continue to be this, and much more. Our ambition is to be the first choice for all of our customers, whether new or consolidated,” and he concluded by saying, “Happy anniversary, Italdesign.”