Flotation struggles for Bertone

Italian coachbuilder Bertone, a highly revered name in the auto industry since the early 1900s, is floundering after a failed deal with Fiat earlier in the year and no significant new projects on the radar screen.

The company is now seeking bankruptcy protection as it continues to look for work -- almost any work, including the assembly of Iveco motor homes -- that will see its 70,000 vehicles per annum plant saved from gathering dust.

The largest project recently completed was a special run of 2,000 or so Minis in 2006, well short of the 30,000 annual build it needs to break even.

Gruppo Bertone has just issued a press release saying it is asking for concordato preventive, a bankruptcy protection ruling that, if granted, would allow it to remain operating without being hounded by creditors during company restructuring.

Recent reports of discussions between Bertone and a Chinese carmaker that would have the company assembling a run of SUVs and pickups have so far failed to produce anything concrete.

Although Bertone is currently static in terms of plant activity, it revealed a lightweight roadster design exercise as recently as March this year at the 77th Geneva International Motor Show.

The company was founded by Giovanni Bertone in 1912 and is Italy's oldest design house. It is famous for a multitude of standout designs including the Lamborghini Miura and Espada from the 1960s and the Alfa Romeo Montreal, Maserati Khamsin, Ferrari 308GT4 and Lamborghini Countach from the 1970s, all penned by Marcello Gandini during a 15-year partnership with Giovanni's son Nuccio Bertone.

Another famous Italian designer, Italdesign founder Giorgetto Giugiaro, produced legendary cars while working for Bertone, such as the Lamborghini Miura he co-designed with Marcello Gandini and the best-selling Fiat 850 Spider from the 1960s.

Gruppo Bertone's attraction to angular styling themes has fallen out of favour with most carmakers in recent years