[959 Panigale News]

We’ve all heard Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal and how the company is being targeted by regulatory investigations around the world after the emissions cheat was discovered. Well now rumor has it that Dieselgate could push Volkswagen to unload a few of their non-core assets including Ducati.

Nothing is concrete yet but, Bloomberg has reported that Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller plans to assess Volkswagen’s portfolio of 12 brands and re-evaluate the corporation’s future development strategy. Shifting away from expanding the company, VW will now look towards developing electric vehicles and brands that contributed to weak profits even before the scandal could be on the chopping block.

As a motorcycle enthusiast, former VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch had always wanted to acquire Ducati but he passed up an opportunity to do so in 1984. It wasn’t until 2012 that the opportunity came up again and the Italian motorcycle brand was purchased by the Volkswagen Group for around 860 million euros ($966 million). Morningstar analyst Richard Hilgert, said that “Ducati is a well-revered brand and could be worth a pretty penny.” If VW sold the brand, they could potentially recoup their initial purchase price.

On paper, Ducati seems to be pulling its own weight by raking in €702 million in revenue last year for €54 million profit but the Volkswagen Group is a €213 billion company so Ducati only accounts for 0.3% of the group’s overall revenue.

Ducati will probably be fine even if it’s no longer under Volkswagen but we’ll have to wait and see where VW decides to go from here.

 

[corsa]

It would be really cool if FCA can take Ducati since it also has Ferrari and what better than to see a brand that has the Ferrari's of the bike world be under the same umbrella that Ferrari is in

 

[Sina]

Firstly, hello everyone! Just in case some folks may have not heard of the update yet (on the parent company portfolio re-evaluation strategy), MCN reports that a VW Board Member put the rumors to rest by bluntly stating their plan to keep both Lamborghini and Ducati for the long-term future, labeling the two brands as being part of their new success development shift. Saw the article today on Yahoo! as well as RideApart, both of which claimed that MCN was the original source; then I recalled seeing this thread and wanted to keep you all in-the-know.

 

[MotoMillion]

Big question is who will buy it off?

Remember the Ducati and Mercedes-Benz AMG collaboration a while a go?

 

[VroomVroom]

Well, now that we know VW won't be selling off Ducati there really isn't much to think about in regards to who will be buying it. Makes sense to keep Ducati since it's such a prestigious name in the motorcycle world.

 

[Panza]

Does this mean we won't be getting a Ducati Panigale R V10?

The two biggest names (not necessarily sales) in motorcycling are Harley Davidson and Ducati is they not?

 

[sinjin]

Topic Heats Up Again

Exclusive: VW eyes possible sale of motorbike brand Ducati - sources | Reuters

 

[Rinzlr]

hey guys lets crowd fund this ****. everyone chip in

 

[Kevin.H]

I'll have a GoFundMe up in an hour.


I expect reasonable contributions from the community...

 

[DarR]

Deja vue all over again

Harley-Davidson Wants to Take Over Ducati: Report

Demand for Harleys is sinking due to an aging customer base and VW Group needs to raise cash. Could the Italian bike builder end up in the hands of Milwaukee's motor company?

Harley-Davidson Wants to Take Over Ducati: Report

 

[Kev242]

Not sure how I feel about that, while I can respect some Harley's overall I am not a fan. I know AMG was looking at Ducati prior to Audi's acquisition and from a performance aspect I would prefer that. I hope they make a stab at it so they can invest even more capital.

Ducati is similar to Ferrari where their racing efforts and heritage trickles down to their street performance and that creates their customers. A Harley purchase makes me fear they would turn the brand into strictly a marketing arm (like BMW did to ///M) and you would see 10,000 scramblers being produced for hipsters and pulling out of MotoGP.

 

[DarR]

I think Harley is like a drowning person trying to grab-on to anything to boost their sales. They tried it awhile back by purchasing MV Augusta and it didn't work. Personally, I don't care for the mix as well.