Ducati Stays With Volkswagen

The white smoke has finally come out of Italy, confirming the news that Ducati will not part ways with the Volkswagen Group. After months of speculation, this saga has finally come to an end. It was reported earlier that the German company had been looking to sell its Italian motorcycle brand to the highest bidder. However, after a stern “NO” from the board’s advisory group, the company has decided to abandon its plans. 

To pay for the (in)famous diesel-gate scandal, the company had put the Italian motorcycle brand up for financial review, and an investment banking company, ‘Evercore Partners’ was hired to solicit bids on Ducati Motor Holding. The German company was expecting to generate roughly £1.5 billion for the Italian company and as expected, many potential owners, including Bajaj, Eicher Motors (owners of Royal Enfield) and Hero MotoCorp from India, were interested in this proposition. Out of these, Eicher was believed to be a frontrunner and was really close to sealing the deal with a bid of £1.36 billion. Other international bidders included Italy’s Benetton family and even Harley-Davidson showed an active interest. 

However, the German Labour union, who account for half of the seats on the Volkswagen’s advisory board saw no benefit in selling the profitable Italian brand. As per reports, it is not just Ducati that won’t be sold, other subsidiaries including MAN Diesel & Turbo, owned by the German giant, will not be sold either.

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