Matteo Maestri - The new Made in Italy mobility

In Italy, by a tradition rooted in decades of car culture, it is small cars that enjoy the greatest commercial success.

Electric cars follow the same rule. With the exception of Tesla, the best-selling clean vehicles are the Fiat 500 and the Smart.

Drawing on its Made in Italy savoir-faire, the mobility world is welcoming with growing enthusiasm a new player that is becoming very popular on Italian roads and beyond.

Born as an innovative prototype in 2008 in Pordenone and made by the company Estrima, Birò is a light quadricycle that is much more than just another electric microcar. Ideal for getting around town and drivable from the age of 14 with an AM licence, this all-Italian creation is truly one of a kind.

Luxury interviewed Matteo Maestri, founder and CEO of Estrima, to understand how Birò aims to revolutionise city mobility in a green way without giving up performance and comfort.

Matteo Maestri, how did the idea for Birò come about?

“Birò was born first and foremost out of restlessness, which I believe is the basic ingredient of innovation.

In our specific case, the innovation lies in having brought to market an electric vehicle for urban use, produced since 2008 by a company that had nothing to do with vehicles.

So the innovation comes from the desire to do things without ever settling for what already exists.

Fresh out of university in ’99, I went straight to work in the family business, which still makes safety cabs for tractors, road sweepers and cranes.

Despite my privileged position, I have always been driven by the will to create and to overturn the current paradigms.

The drive to make things, together with the wish to understand a product’s real impact on people, persuaded me to merge my know-how (the ability to design and build safety cabs, which are a space that shelters people) with a consumer product in an emerging market.

So in 2008 the idea was born of offering a product people felt they needed and that fully embraced the concepts of sustainability and innovation.

Jokingly, we could say Birò was born by putting motorised wheels on a cab.”

What inspired you most in your wish to innovate by breaking the mould?

“Innovating is often a matter of character, something personal, and it depends a great deal on how much energy you have.

From an early age, my passion and drive found fertile ground in the industriousness of the north-east, a region famous for exactly these qualities.

When the wish to create matches perfectly with the chance to express it, innovation is born.

Beyond character, though, there is also a principle that has always stayed with me: entrepreneurship carries the responsibility of having a positive impact on the world around you.

You have to think outside the box to achieve a result that goes beyond the ephemeral, reasoning for the long term.

Through a lucky series of coincidences, Birò manages to simplify life in the city, allows total customisation and brings benefits even to those who don’t use it, because it takes up less space and is sustainable.

Years ago we coined the term “personal commuter”, precisely to describe the agility of movement needed in urban settings and the tiny dimensions, closer to a four-wheeled scooter than to a car, which let you wear Birò like a suit.

And just like a suit, it really is made to measure, meeting every need of the driver.”

How do you imagine the sustainable mobility of tomorrow? And how can it help the ecological transition?

“The basic premise is that CO2, as has now been scientifically proven, is one of the main threats of extinction for the human race.

Of the many ways it is produced, burning fossil fuels to power cars is one of the most harmful and damaging of all.

Moving from a conventional combustion-engine car to an electric one is not only an ecological and environmental step forward, but also a smart choice.

By putting clean energy into the car, for example, you create a virtuous circle that cuts carbon dioxide emissions for everyone’s benefit.

Today, half the world’s population lives in urban areas.

Big cities and towns present a further source of pollution: the fine particulates we breathe whether we like it or not.

Any electric car used in the city emits no fine particulates and would let people breathe properly, eliminating or limiting the onset of illnesses linked to very poor air quality.

But a driver’s interest is personal too. The goal of tomorrow’s mobility will be to take a person from point A to point B with the least possible stress.

What’s needed, then, is an electric vehicle that is very small, light, easy to use and that means you don’t have to worry about parking, while enjoying the extra time.”

How are electric microcars perceived in Italy?

“Microcars have a very interesting and constantly changing history. They have always been associated with two very distinct, and very different, groups of people: ambitious young city dwellers and elderly people in small provincial villages.

Today the landscape is very different. There is a split between the world of small cars and that of two-wheelers, which has opened up a gap in the middle that you can successfully move into.

Our continent is marked by large-scale use of scooters, because they are practical; even so, weather such as rain and cold, or everyday needs such as carrying the shopping, expose their real limits.

Birò, although by association it may look like a microcar, is actually something more: it is the smallest four-wheeled vehicle in the world.

In the past the microcar market counted a few tens of thousands of units in Europe, whereas this gap will be filled by vehicles – of which Birò was historically the first – that will change the way people experience mobility in the city.

Four-wheeled micro-vehicles will therefore be needed so that, especially in a big city, parking, getting around and potentially bad weather are no longer the main worry.”

What was the impact of rising raw material prices?

“There’s no point denying it: rising raw material prices hurt everyone.

Add to that the scarcity of materials available on the market, and like everyone we faced difficulties despite the increase in orders received during the year.

This situation, however, arrived during a period of major investment that began in December 2020 with our stock market listing and capital raising.

In terms of team, sales capacity, new companies across Europe and technical changes to the product, we managed to counter the rise in raw material costs satisfactorily.

In light of all this, and of the new sharing offers with a dedicated app that we launched, the balance – not only in the numbers – is very positive.”

How have these last years of crisis changed you?

“Every crisis, whether personal or economic and social, holds enormous potential, confronting us with our fears, which are those that belong to being human.

The terrible and at the same time precious value of periods like this lies precisely in how we react. We discover that we have endless possibilities to innovate, to change our approach, to renew ourselves.

I have always been grateful for every difficulty I have had to face, personally and as an entrepreneur, because they have allowed me to keep growing.

When in 2013 we were on the verge of bankruptcy, we found Birò’s true identity and also the ability to relaunch ourselves with enthusiasm.

We started dealing directly with customers, to better understand their needs and our mistakes, and only then did the usefulness and the real impact of our vehicles on their lives emerge.

Crisis brings us closer to people, and that is the only thing that really matters.

Everything else is a tool.”

What are the next steps for Birò?

“At the moment we have a strong presence in Amsterdam, where Birò has largely replaced the use of cars thanks to its characteristics.

Our goal is to replicate this model in 20 other major European cities, increasing the number of vehicles precisely where congestion, pollution and traffic are highest.

We also want to improve the product, building on what we have learnt over the years from everyone who has chosen us, and set up an innovative rental model, sharing and a direct relationship with customers.”

Come and learn how the high-end market works, and how you can position your brand in the premium–luxury sector, selling your products or services in Italy and abroad at high prices, and so increasing your profits and margins without losing market share or sales.

Discover the live course “Margini di Lusso”, 8th edition, Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November 2026 in Milan, taught in Italian: book your place on the course page.