Italdesign Is Betting $20 Million That Detroit’s Big 3 Still Need Italian Designs

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The Italian design giant wants to become a one-stop shop for America’s biggest automakers

3 hours ago

• Italdesign is investing $20 million into its U.S. operations over the next five years.
• The legendary Italian firm wants deeper ties with Detroit’s Big Three automakers.
• Beyond concepts, the company says it can handle everything from design to production.

In January of 2025, Italdesign announced that it was opening a new U.S. headquarters in Detroit. “Having an operational headquarters in Michigan is essential to effectively support our American customers,” said Fabrizio Mina, Italdesign USA CEO at the time.

More: The NSX Is Technically Dead, But Italdesign Just Built A Better One Anyway

“This local presence allows us to respond promptly to their needs, and to provide a personalized and high-quality service to the large industry or startups wishing to enter the automotive sector.” Now, we’re learning that the firm wants to go a lot further than just offering support at a local level.

Chasing The Big Three

Speaking to Car And Driver, Mina just laid out his view. “Why did we choose Michigan?” he said. “Because of the ‘Big Three. We want to have a long-lasting relationship with the big players.” The boutique builder insists that it can handle everything from simple design help to full-on production. As exciting as that might sound, there’s a good reason to slow down a little and really consider what has and hasn’t changed.

Italdesign is about to invest some $20 million into U.S. operations over the next five years. No doubt, some of that will go into courting the Big Three. Plenty of it will go into simply setting up shop, though. At this stage, it’s easy to envision whatever the next De Tomaso Pantera will be rolling off a production line at Ford, GM, or Stellantis, but we’re a long way from that at this stage in the game.

The GT-R50 Cautionary Tale

The last car Italdesign actually built and sold was the Nissan GT-R50, a collaboration akin to the one it’s seemingly interested in now with GM, Ford, and Stellantis. Originally, Italdesign and Nissan planned on building 50 examples of the sports car to celebrate its 50th anniversary. In late 2019 (foreshadowing), Nissan said that demand for the car was strong but that it still had some build slots available.

Whether it was the pandemic, parts supply shortages, or a price tag in the seven figures for most markets, many believe Italdesign only ever made 18 or 19 examples of the GT-R50. In 2023, one example went up for sale at auction with a guidance that started below its original asking price. The car didn’t sell even then, which isn’t a great omen for Italdesign and a new collaboration.

That said, the market and industry landscape are dramatically different today. Here’s to hoping that the Italian design house can find a new level of success this time around.