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Volkswagen has put Ducati up for sale alongside Lamborghini

What does the future hold for Ducati?

EJ Punsalang EJ Punsalang on Nov 20, 2020
Ducati Panigale V4 R

It all started in September when rumors circulating about Volkswagen thinking of selling Ducati began to surface. Having owned the iconic Italian manufacturer since 2012, the German mother company was analyzing Ducati’s performance, as well as its feasibility with the company’s future business plans. After all, Volkswagen’s primary focus is on producing affordable, mass-market vehicles. 

That being said, it isn’t really surprising that Volkswagen has finally decided to off-load Ducati from its portfolio. Interestingly as well, however, is the fact that along with two other companies — one or if which is Lamborghini. That’s right, Volkswagen is now undertaking the legal process of spinning off Ducati, Lamborghini, and engineering company Italdesign into a single business entity. 

“We are, let’s say, bringing it into a legal structure where we could act … it’s probably a bit of a slower process, but it’s on our agenda,”
Herbert Diess
CEO, Volkswagen
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Ducati Hypermotard

So what does this mean for Ducati’s future, and what does it mean for us diehard Ducati fans? Well, most likely nothing really. As mentioned, Volkswagen acquired Ducati back in 2012  and didn’t really involve itself much with the Italian motorcycle manufacturer’s operations — other than of course, financing the company. Ducati’s operations, product schedule, and R&D teams were left to operate as usual. With that, we can expect the same to happen if and when the sale is closed. Let’s just hope that whoever acquires the company will have the financial breadth to keep Ducati’s wheels turning. 

That being said, chances are that we can expect Ducati to continue churning out high-performance machines for the foreseeable future. When the Panigale was first introduced in 2011, we hardly felt any change to both the bike, and the company as a whole when Volkswagen acquired them a year later. It’s also important to note that Ducati has quite a few exciting bikes in the pipeline, and we’re pretty sure that they’re not going to let the incredible opportunity these new bikes present simply slip away. 

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