Ferrari named Flavio Manzoni today the new chief of design. He last served as the head of creative design of the Volkswagen Group, and his new appointment that could signal a dramatic change in how Ferrari designs its cars.

News of Mr. Manzoni’s appointment had been floating around since September, and Ferrari made it official this week.

According to a news release, Mr. Manzoni, 45, will report directly to Ferrari’s chief executive, Amedeo Felisa, “and will be responsible for creating and defining the styling of Ferrari’s new cars.”

Just a few years ago, the very idea of a Ferrari design chief would have seemed absurd. Pininfarina, the illustrious Italian company, had the responsibility of designing Ferraris. In the 1950s, the name Pininfarina on the body of a Ferrari was as important as the rearing stallion of Ferrari. The design houses — like Pininfarina and Bertone — were as prestigious as the manufacturers. That has changed.

But with hard times threatening the very existence of Pininfarina — and the entire coach-building and design industry — the appointment of Mr. Manzoni may be a watershed. With Fiat bosses thinking more about integrating the high-end Ferrari and Maserati marques into a brand system with Fiat and Lancia, Ferrari design has recently meant something new. Frank Stephenson, of Mini design fame, served as Ferrari design chief for a while, and then Donato Coco. The position has been more about managing relations with Pininfarina than drawing specific new designs. Mr. Manzoni ‘s appointment raises the possibility that Ferrari may hire other designers or even create designs in-house.

“Everyone is curious as to how Ferrari’s relationship will evolve with Pininfarina,” said Jason Castriota, a former designer at Pininfarina. “Manzoni, a passionate, cultured, hands-on designer, will certainly want to put his own personal stamp on Ferrari design.”

Mr. Castriota added, “There has been ever increasing collaboration between Pininfarina and Ferrari’s own design team in recent years, and his appointment leads one to believe that the relationship will evolve further still. The result might be head-to-head competition for new designs, or in an even greater and more drastic strategic change, to Ferrari designing everything internally.”

But Mr. Castriota said he “would be shocked if Pininfarina were to be completely phased out given their storied success as Ferrari’s personal tailor.”

Mr. Manzoni was born in Sardinia, Italy. He was trained as an architect at the University of Florence and entered the automotive world in 1993 with Fiat. Mr. Manzoni worked at Lancia and then Seat, Volkswagen’s Spanish subsidiary. Following Walter de’Silva, the VW and Audi designer, Mr. Manzoni moved to Audi in 2006 and then later to VW, where he worked on the new Scirocco, Golf and Up concepts.