Benetton Wants to Keep Ducati Italian: Report

Reports came out recently that VW was looking to sell Ducati, not because of its lack of profitability, but instead because it didn’t really add anything of substance to the Group engineering-wise (among other reasons).

That actually makes it a pretty attractive property for buyers, who have been lining up (according to reports) to buy the brand.

The latest interested buyer, according to Reuters, is the Benetton family. The family’s investment firm, Edizione Holding, has sent in several bids and apparently values Ducati at $1.2 billion.

The Italian family owns The United Colors of Benetton, a clothing company famous for its involvement in motorsport.

The family has some stiff competition because lots of bidders—including Harley Davidson, Polaris, Eicher Motors (which owns Royal Enfield), and the Ducati’s former owner, Investindustrial—have been showing interest in the brand.

VW, for its part, has valued Ducati at $1.4 billion, which is a little rich for many, since Ducati lacks synergies that other motorcycle manufacturers could offer.

The German giant is said to be basing its decision to sell on more than just the highest bid, though. Other factors, like the straightforwardness of the transaction and getting positive feedback from its unions will also be considered.

[source: Reuters]

The post Benetton Wants to Keep Ducati Italian: Report appeared first on VWVortex.

from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2uW3Dhz
via IFTTT

Comments

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier. The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow. While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something . To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it. Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait. So with this in mind, we lined our G...

Project Golf SportWagen- Intro

I’ve never really been one for SUVs and crossovers. The current offerings aren’t the body-on-frame, go-anywhere specialty tools I remember from my youth, and what they lack in capability, they also lack in on-road performance. The current crop isn’t terribly good at handling or being efficient, which in my opinion are major components of our ideal driving experience. So when it comes to space or utility, I usually look for something of the wagon variety- and it seems that I’m not alone. We hit quite a few shows around the east coast each summer, and we see modified Jetta SportWagens at nearly every event. Even amongst common consumers, these cars are highly sought-after. They don’t depreciate much, making even early Mk 5 2.5 versions expensive in comparison to other Jettas or Golfs of the same vintage. This year, Volkswagen launched their latest SportWagen, which is now billed as a Golf. In many ways, this latest SportWagen is the best yet and it has certai...

Vorderman Volkswagen

Search This Blog