Fiat planning to acquire MV Agusta

German carmaker Audi acquired Italian motorcycle brand Ducati last year and if reports are to be believed Fiat is planning to follow in its footsteps. According to Italian website Moto.it both the Italian brands are in talks for the acquisition but refuse to comment on this topic. This news doesn’t come as a surprise, as MV Agusta needs financial help to stay afloat. The Italian bikemaker had to struggle to secure credit after the Castiglioni family, who own MV Agusta reacquired the brand from Harley-Davidson.

Owing to this reason, MV Agusta is looking at new markets to boost sales and for that purpose it has launched varying offerings like the F3, Brutale, Rivale, Turismo Veloce, and the Dragster in the recent past. It was also speculated that Giovanni Castiglioni, CEO of the company was planning for a possible IPO by 2016. But given its financial condition an IPO doesn’t look like a way out as MV Agusta needs investment or acquisition by a larger company. This is where Fiat comes in the picture, as it has the financial clout to pump in cash to revive the motorcycle manufacturers’ fate. But the only confusing bit about this deal is that what does Fiat gain out of this? 

As the amount of investment on the carmaker’s end will be large and MV Agusta being a premium brand it wouldn’t be able to play the volumes game to justify the investment. Having said that, European regulatory laws work gives few benefits to brands that have a both two-wheeler and four-wheeler product portfolio but these are very minor when a brand like Fiat is considered. Only time will tell what benefits does Fiat get from this deal or whether if the deal goes through without any bottleneck? All we know is that, if Fiat is able to pull-off this deal it might be able to acquire an iconic brand like MV Agusta at a cut-throat price.