Skip to main content

Harley-Davidson Rumored To Be Interested In Buying Ducati

The internet rumor machine is exploding today after a report from Reuters indicated that Harley-Davidson has expressed interest in purchasing Ducati. The only source of this information is from anonymous Reuters sources.

We contacted the Motor Company and were awarded exactly what we expected: “Harley-Davidson does not comment on future speculations.” Our Ducati media rep has yet to return our calls.

Also in the Reuters report is another anonymous source stating that Goldman Sachs has been hired to negotiate the transaction and that an offer for Ducati could be made as soon as next month.

It’s been nearly two months since it was revealed that Ducati might be on the block as a way to help parent company, Volkswagen/Audi, to pay off the billion-euro fines for its Dieselgate emissions debacle. Early potential suitors included various Chinese firms and, from India, Bajaj, Hero MotoCorp and even Royal Enfield. Also interested were several private equity funds, including Ducati’s old owners, InvestIndustrial.

Reuters’ sources indicate VW is hoping to sell Ducati for about 1.5 billion euros (nearly $1.7 million USD), which would be a tidy profit from the $935 million price Audi paid for Ducati in 2012.

Some investors have reportedly balked at paying 15 times Ducati’s earnings (EBITDA) of around $100 million to purchase the legendary Italian company. Reuters’ sources say Hero and TVS Motor Company have backed away from any sort of deal, and BMW, Honda, and Suzuki have also pulled out of consideration, according to, again, Reuters’ sources.

That leads us back to Harley-Davidson, which has had a recent history of making huge profits of selling bikes and t-shirts to millions of people who, generally speaking, are aging at a pace that will see many of them stepping out of the moto market over the next decade or so. Ducati’s reputation for performance and a youthful persona might be a way for the MoCo to remain relevant to a younger demographic.

That said, Harley’s purchase of MV Agusta in 2008 was money poorly spent for the Milwaukee manufacturer, as it eventually sold back the company to its previous owner, Claudio Castiglioni, for a song in 2010.

Could Harley again be interested in acquiring an iconic Italian sportbike manufacturer? Well, it could, but it might simply be a case of once burned, twice shy.

This article first appeared on motorcycle.com

The post Harley-Davidson Rumored To Be Interested In Buying Ducati appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2tygzah
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway

Waterfest 24 will be held at Atco Dragway, in Atco, New Jersey. The summer event will take place at its new venue on July 21 and 22. Long held in Englishtown, New Jersey, the festival has been such a large part of the VW scene that the latest iteration of the Golf even comes with optional “Englishtown” wheels . The new venue, however, is an NHRA drag track a scant 52 miles southwest of Englishtown. The ¼ mile drag track opened in 1960, which makes it the oldest drag strip in New Jersey. The announcement came today on a social media post that announced the new location. Waterfest is North America’s largest VW/Audi show. As many 20,000 people show up for the annual show, making the second largest show in the world—with Worthersee being number one. 2018 will be Waterfest’s 24 th year in existence. The post Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway appeared first on VWVortex . from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2GQjkuc via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

European Passat GTE launches as Saloon and Variant

Volkswagen continues e-motoring offensive with plug-in hybrid Passat GTE delivers 218 PS and travels up to 50 kilometres on all-electric power First Volkswagen plug-in hybrid in the high-volume segment of large family cars The Volkswagen continues to electrify! Following the Golf GTE*, comes the next high-volume model with a plug-in drive system: this time the German carmaker is electrifying the new Passat GTE. Its launch marks the debut of a new generation of business and family cars – zero-emission vehicle and long-distance touring car all in one. A Volkswagen that combines the present and the future. A car that boasts not only one of the most progressive drive systems of our time, but also an array of innovative assistance and infotainment systems that is ground-breaking in the segment of large family cars. With superb system output of 160 kW / 218 PS, frugal NEDC consumption of just 1.6 l/100 km and 12.2 kWh/100 km (Variant: 12.4 kWh) and an all-electric range of up to 50 k...
Post a Comment
Read more