Bertone Heads for April Bankruptcy

Bertone, the famed Italian design house, is headed for liquidation at the end of April unless it can find a buyer by then, according to Autocar, which cites an unnamed company official.

Media reports in December suggested the company might be sold to a Turkish buyer for about €2 million. But Autocar's source says Bertone has received no firm offers. Without a savior, the company will be sold by the Italian court at the end of next month.

Carrozzeria Bertone SpA, a former European coachbuilder, was split in two in 2008 in a court-supervised liquidation. Fiat SpA acquired the company's production operations a year later and has used them to build Maserati Ghibi and Quattroporte luxury cars.

Lillil Bertone, widow of founder Nuccio Bertone, bought the company trademark and Stile Bertone design firm. She relaunched the firm as a design-only company specializing in concept cars. But the business has struggled since then.