The Turin court which is presently hearing the Bertone bankruptcy proceedings has now appointed three special commissioners who will decide on the company's future.

The Turin court which is presently hearing the Bertone bankruptcy proceedings has now appointed three special commissioners who will decide on the company's future. The three commissioners were appointed by the court on Monday and they will now have a month during which to decide if Bertone has a future assembling vehicles or if the historic firm should be placed in liquidation.

Automotive New Europe reported yesterday that the three commissioners tasked with finding a solution are: Antonio Bene (an engineer and former head of manufacturing at Fiat Auto), Stefano Ambrosini (a law professor at the University of Turin and a bankruptcy expert) and Vincenzo Nicastro (a lawyer from Milan who is a financial-contracts expert). The trio will take over full control in running the company with immediate effect.

They will have to investigate as to whether Bertone can continue in its role as a contract vehicle manufacturer, in which case if the court is convinced of the viability they will be allowed to run the company for up to a year, or if they envision there no future for the Carrozzeria then it will be legally wound up.

Bertone's work dried up two years ago, with the conclusion of a contract to build Astra convertibles for Opel/Vauxhall and Italian state aid to pay the 1,600 strong workforce was wrapped up at the end of last year. If the court does decide to allow the commissioners to run Bertone for a year, then state aid to pay staff could be swiftly reinstated. Last month Bertone paid the workforce itself but its cash reserves are reported to only be able to fund payments until the end of March.

Majority shareholder Lilli Bertone, the widow of the late Nuccio, and the rest of minority family shareholders, which include her two daughters, have fallen out over proposals to rescue the company and are now embroiled in legal action. Lilli walked out of one almost-signed deal at the beginning of January in favour of a fresh plan put forward by the Turin turnaround specialist Domenico Reviglio. However the bankruptcy court when it sat for the first time last month was unimpressed by his proposed rescue plans, and Lilli's daughters swiftly took legal action to prevent the deal going ahead, resulting in Reviglio walking away from the company.