Andrea Pininfarina, chairman and CEO of the time-honored chassis company which bears his family's name, was killed Thursday morning in a traffic accident on the outskirts of Turin.

Italian police said the 51-year-old industrialist was killed when the motorcycle he was riding hit an automobile driven by a pensioner who failed to yield the right of way and turned in front of him.

The pensioner said he could not see the motorcycle in the thick fog.

The accident took place just after 8 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), when Pininfarina was reportedly on his way to his company's headquarters nearby.

He had been deputy chairman of the powerful industrial employers' association Confindustria until recently.

"With Andrea Pininfarina I have lost a great friend and outstanding business partner. Together we shared years of work and successes with the Ferrari cars he designed," said Luca Cordero diMontezemolo, chairman of Fiat and Ferrari and former Confindustria chief.

"He was a man of great humanity and in this moment of deep sorrow my heart goes out to his parents, his wife, children, brothers and all his collaborators at Pininfarina," Montezemolo said.

Emma Marcegaglia, who had been deputy chairman together with Pininfarina before taking over the top post of Confindustria from Montezemolo earlier this year, said: "He will always remain in my heart for being a unique person and a true friend."

"Andrea was a person we all admired because of his unquestionable professional abilities and deep humanity. He will be sorely missed," she said.

Pininfarina took over the reins of his family company from his father in 1994.

He is survived by his wife and three children.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2008)