Objectives of the new company, headquartered in Frankfurt, were to ensure the operators of the automotive division a range of services that no other free lance company can claim: from creativity and engineering to construction of models and laboratory prototypes, to analysis of investments and production methods (specific competencies of Italdesign-Giugiaro) right up to experimentation and laboratory services in active and passive safety, dynamics of vehicle noise, vibration and comfort, the drive train and emissions, and system integration and durability. The tests are carried out in the laboratory and on specially equipped tracks, finalized at certification and homologation of the models for the sales markets (the core business of IDIADA).

The IDIADA plants in Spain, including all the testing tracks and laboratories, extend over a surface area of 3,700,000 m_ and employ 250 specialists, while branches have also been opened in Ingolstadt, Germany and in Seoul, South Korea.
In August 2000, the IDF – Italdesign France Srl, was founded in Paris, serving the French and European automotive market. The corporate mission is as specialized as it is ambitious: “to expand and increase a structure and bring 30 years of experience and expertise from Turin to Paris”.
IDF is equipped with a Style Centre, CAS and CAM Centre, External, Internal and Finishing Models Division and a painting division. It holds the potential able to independently produce research models or models on order and projected by the customer.

In 2000, the company acquired a majority shareholding (60%) in Studeo, an engineering company, and in 2001 purchased a share in 3E, European Engineering Enterprise, which is specialized in engineering services in the automotive and industrial design sectors.
Italdesign pursued an internalisation strategy in its transition from family business to managerial company, with the objective of better facing the more complicated programming needs and managing a business undergoing exponential growth. Specifically, in 1997, the Group staff was augmented by the entrance of highly qualified manager with years of experience in the automobile industry, Dario Trucco, who now takes care of the business with the founding partners in the position of Managing Director and General Manager.

More than 35 years in the business >