Audi About To Buy Ducati

[nikster]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/audi-aims-for-bmw-superbike-market-with-possible-ducati-purschase/

No idea what it means for their operations in Thailand - probably going to continue as before. Looking at Audi cars I guess this is good news. They are buying it from some investment conglomerate after all.

Ps: Sales price rumored to be $1.1Bn. Compare that to Instagram - an app that lets you take pictures on your phone and share them with others - which sold for $1Bn. Crazy world!

[wana]

how many ducattis are sold each year ?

how many phones are sold each year ?

maybe not so crazy as you think ,the instagram may even be a better deal than the ducatti one

[bbradsby]

Don't get me wrong - I'm a dyed in the wool Ducatista. But this is just another minor Italian industrial dust-up.

Foreign buyers of Italian car & bike companies are like those of Thai real estate - they show up with big eyes & wallets, get used for a while, then burn out, get kicked out or realize they need to just leave while they still have a pulse!

It's pretty epic viewing the ownership lists and phoenix stories of these Italian companies. Google "MV Agusta and Harley Davidson" to read up on just the latest & most expensive [for the foreign suitor] story. As long as Audi stays the heck away from interfering with Ducati's design aesthetic & engineering, it'll all go well as far as I'm concerned - Audis are butt ugly.

[Jobo]

Maybe Audi would not have let one of the ugliest bikes I've ever seen go to market too. And it's a Ducati. In fact I could think of more than one in recent years.

Guess which one you Ducatista?

[bbradsby]

Maybe Audi would not have let one of the ugliest bikes I've ever seen go to market too. And it's a Ducati. In fact I could think of more than one in recent years.

Guess which one you Ducatista?

and, uh, let's see...I'm supposed to read your mind? ...naw, the beer fridge is more compelling.

[BSJ]

If Audi wanted to add a successful motorcycle line to their range......why didn't they just buy BMW, lock stock and barrel?

Buying Ducati is a bit like a farang marrying a Thai girl..........................

[nikster]

^ probably because BMW would be _a bit_ more expensive... $45 Bn market cap?!

[Rickster]

Buying Ducati is a bit like a farang marrying a Thai girl..........................

Strange analogy??? Care to explain....

[Richard-BKK]

The VWgroup (Audi) have a good amount of history (and hold a good amount of pattents) with motorcycles... Some people of the bit older generation would probably remember NSU. With Ducati, VW/Audi have a good jump back into motorcycle production....

[bbradsby]

Sorry, but I don't see where a defunct Iron Curtain, stone age bikemaker such as NSU brings anything to Ducati's benefit in the 21st Century.

The benefit is 100% to Audi by their gaining high performance image enhancement such as AMG was after in their dance with Ducati last year, as well as in receiving Ducati's advanced R&D & technology in lightweight, high-revving, high power small [by car standards] engines.

[Richard-BKK]

Sorry, but I don't see where a defunct Iron Curtain, stone age bikemaker such as NSU brings anything to Ducati's benefit in the 21st Century.

The benefit is 100% to Audi by their gaining high performance image enhancement such as AMG was after in their dance with Ducati last year, as well as in receiving Ducati's advanced R&D & technology in lightweight, high-revving, high power small [by car standards] engines.

So far as I know, the year 2000 is part of the 21st Century, also Audi and NSU are the same company (name changed after VW bought them). About NSU, they where not some small outfit from behind the iron curtain, Audi is always been a West-German registered company....

Also what has Audi (NSU), Audi/NSU is also the owner of Lamborgini (including all that technology), together with VW group (which now-a-day also includes Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti) to offer a company as Ducati? First the person in charge, at the VW group is the major shareholder and billionar Ferdinand Piech in charge and he loves Italian 'sport' motorcycles...

Attached a 2000 Motorcycle study by Audi Germany (Not my taste but still a Audi). Also NSU made the NSU Bison 2000 in 2000

Edited April 15, 2012 by Richard-BKK

[bbradsby]

A concept design 'study' and a machine that never saw real distribution past say what a small, custom builder would do does not qualify for relevance in this discussion. NSU was irrelevent to biking past the 1960's, to be generous. That's definitely NOT part of the 21st Century.

And again, if one thinks about what Ducati is and has done, and where they now stand, Audi brings nothing to them but investment money [not a criticism, btw] and a hunger for Ducati's above-stated R&D.

[bbradsby]

Also what has Audi (NSU), Audi/NSU is also the owner of Lamborgini (including all that technology), together with VW group (which now-a-day also includes Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti) to offer a company as Ducati? First the person in charge, at the VW group is the major shareholder and billionar Ferdinand Piech in charge and he loves Italian 'sport' motorcycles...

Attached a 2000 Motorcycle study by Audi Germany (Not my taste but still a Audi). Also NSU made the NSU Bison 2000 in 2000

Dude, owning a machine like a Lambo doesn't make one a design genius... same for buying the factory. And your attached pic of Audi's idea of a bike defeats your argument - and is further proof that Ducati should be Very Afraid if Audi starts to bring 'design ideas' to Italy Dear Peisch: bring suitcases of Euro and leave the design to the experts at Borgo Panigale.

[Richard-BKK]

A concept design 'study' and a machine that never saw real distribution past say what a small, custom builder would do does not qualify for relevance in this discussion. NSU was irrelevent to biking past the 1960's, to be generous. That's definitely NOT part of the 21st Century.

And again, if one thinks about what Ducati is and has done, and where they now stand, Audi brings nothing to them but investment money [not a criticism, btw] and a hunger for Ducati's above-stated R&D.

Concerning inventions and granted patents, one is clearly important for the modern motorcycle industry, the invention of the “Camshaft Drive for High Speed Internal Combustion Engines”. It would be hard to make any modern 4-stroke sportsbike engine without using some technology discussed in patent US2779321 (see attachment).

Matter of fact if you do a quick search at http://www.google.com/patents in combination with one word like Volkswagen, NSU, Audi, Porsche, Lamborgini, Bugati, Bentley or even Ferdinand Piech you find that the VW Group has enough to offer concerning motorcycle technology or combustion engines in general.

Also, the Porsche engine designers are also responsible for the engine of the Harley-Davidson V-rod, see wikipedia “The Revolution engine is based on the VR-1000 Superbike race program, developed by Harley-Davidson's Powertrain Engineering team and Porsche Engineering in Stuttgart, Germany.”

US2779321.pdf

[bbradsby]

Another great example! - Audi could bring Ducati their version of a 'V-Rod' - the high tech motor that cost 'The Motor Co' massively via R&D costs and failed miserably to fundamentally understand what the actual buyers of Harleys require in a bike, for better or worse. If they wanted a high performance Twin, they'd buy... a Ducati! The V-Rod, with it's stonking engine, was an utter sales lead balloon... unclear on the concept.

[Richard-BKK]

Also what has Audi (NSU), Audi/NSU is also the owner of Lamborgini (including all that technology), together with VW group (which now-a-day also includes Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti) to offer a company as Ducati? First the person in charge, at the VW group is the major shareholder and billionar Ferdinand Piech in charge and he loves Italian 'sport' motorcycles...

Attached a 2000 Motorcycle study by Audi Germany (Not my taste but still a Audi). Also NSU made the NSU Bison 2000 in 2000

Dude, owning a machine like a Lambo doesn't make one a design genius... same for buying the factory. And your attached pic of Audi's idea of a bike defeats your argument - and is further proof that Ducati should be Very Afraid if Audi starts to bring 'design ideas' to Italy Dear Peisch: bring suitcases of Euro and leave the design to the experts at Borgo Panigale.

Okay from the 5 Ducati designers, one is a South African, one is from Argentina and one never really worked for Ducati... (as Ducati was at that time owned by MV Agusta). And you worry that a German designer will do some harm...

[bbradsby]

Also what has Audi (NSU), Audi/NSU is also the owner of Lamborgini (including all that technology), together with VW group (which now-a-day also includes Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti) to offer a company as Ducati? First the person in charge, at the VW group is the major shareholder and billionar Ferdinand Piech in charge and he loves Italian 'sport' motorcycles...

Attached a 2000 Motorcycle study by Audi Germany (Not my taste but still a Audi). Also NSU made the NSU Bison 2000 in 2000

Dude, owning a machine like a Lambo doesn't make one a design genius... same for buying the factory. And your attached pic of Audi's idea of a bike defeats your argument - and is further proof that Ducati should be Very Afraid if Audi starts to bring 'design ideas' to Italy Dear Peisch: bring suitcases of Euro and leave the design to the experts at Borgo Panigale.

Okay from the 5 Ducati designers, one is a South African, one is from Argentina and one never really worked for Ducati... (as Ducati was at that time owned by MV Agusta). And you worry that a German designer will do some harm...

now youre bringing in the nationalities of the designers that worked for Ducati to save your argument that, what? Audi can help Ducati design great motorcycles??!!! ... oh, and saying that Italian Massimo Tamburini didnt 'work for' Ducati when he penned the industry milestone 916 because Sr Castiglioni [italian to the Bone] owned Ducati at the time?! Dude, thats dancing on razors. Ducati and Castiglioni's Cagiva were One Company, in Italy, run by Italians, owned by italians, with Italian in charge of design. It all happens under Ducati management - the tech, the visual design, the design brief. Not by Auslanders.

Nothing against Teutonic tech via sheer force of will and logic. I loved my ole K-dawg Bimmer bike like a fat retriever dog family member, and two 3-Series cars - but my Ducatis and Alfas are a joy to experience and dance circles around them. Only Verdi can do Verdi, not Wagner with his over-wrought diatribes. Audi can bring home the groceries, but they should know enough to stay out of the Italian kitchen to keep from burning down the house.

[Richard-BKK]

Officially, since today, the chance that VW/Audi is going to buy Ducati is smaller. As Investindustrial (one of the biggest shareholders in Ducati) reserved some time for Audi/VW group to make a bit on Ducati. For now that still hasn't happened...

The news says now “If Ducati isn't sold outright, there is a good chance that Investindustrial may hold an initial public offering in Hong Kong, managed by Deutsche Bank and the Goldman Sachs Group. We're content to take a wait-and-see approach to these reports, but it seems increasingly likely that the world's best known Italian motorcycle brand may soon find new ownership.”

It's therefore very possible that Ducati ends up with a Chinese partner... Personally I had hoped the Germans bought Ducati...

[Richard-BKK]

There aren't a lot of automakers that also make motorcycles: Peugeot, Honda, Suzuki, and perhaps most pertinently, BMW. And now Audi is getting in the game – not with its own four-ringed motorbikes, but with today's acquisition of Ducati.

In the announcement just released, Audi confirmed the deal but stopped short of confirming the reported purchase price of $1.1B. Although Audi is, of course, part of the Volkswagen group, it is Audi AG itself that officially bought the motorcycle manufacturer, making Ducati the third Italian operation under its umbrella alongside Lamborghini and ItalDesign-Giugiaro.

Tellingly, Audi also points to certain technologies developed by Ducati – particularly their control systems, combustion chamber process and competence in lightweight construction – as particular assets that "offer great potential for AUDI AG and the Volkswagen Group." Read more in the official release after the jump.

[bbradsby]

Sigh... It's a Done Deal. From blog.motorcycle.com. In addition to learning about light, high performance engines, perhaps Audi will learn about aesthetics and visual design from Ducati.

Audi Officially Announces Ducati Purchase

18/04/2012 | By: Dennis Chung

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Audi has officially announced it has acquired Ducati Motor Holding fromInvestindustrial. Terms of the deal were not announced, though they should be made available April 19 at the annual stockholders meeting for Audi’s parent company, theVolkswagen Group. Previous reports have the price pegged at 860 million euros (US$1.1 billion). (UPDATED with statement from Investindustrial.)

“Ducati is known worldwide as a premium brand among motorcycle manufacturers and has a long tradition of building sporty motorcycles,” says Rupert Stadler, chairman of the board of management of Audi. “It has great expertise in high-performance engines and lightweight construction, and is one of the world’s most profitable motorcycle manufacturers. That makes Ducati an excellent fit for Audi.”

Audi says it will benefit from Ducati’s knowledge of lightweight construction and “the progressive control systems and special combustion chamber process of Ducati engines”.

Ducati’s minority owners, Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan and BS Investimenti, also sold their stakes. The transaction still has to get authorization from antitrust authorities.

Below is a statement from Andrea Bonomi, Investindustrial chair.

Ducati has thrived with us as a result of the intensive industrial turnaround and the commercial push into new, fast-growing markets. We are convinced that the company will continue to provide a bright and rewarding future to its customers and employees in the very capable hands of Audi. We believe that Audi is the best partner to continue the globalisation process that has already been successfully initiated.

The management team, led by Gabriele Del Torchio, and the Ducati’s skilled and passionate workforce have been a key element in turning the company into a global brand with some of the most exciting motorcycle models currently on the market. I am convinced Audi will be a responsible new owner, preserving the Italian workforce’s technology skills for a bright future for the Company. Ducati has a loyal and growing customer base, which will be well looked after thanks to Audi and Volkswagen Group’s global presence and engineering excellence.

Edited April 20, 2012 by bbradsby

[bbradsby]

In retrospect, Ducati thrived under the beneficent cashflow of TPG. Hopefully Audi will similarly maintain a hands-off approach with management of Ducati.

[Richard-BKK]

I'm sure that Audi knows what they do, by the way... lots of Alfa-Romeo cars are designed by ItalDesign-Giugiaro (which is also a Audi company) http://www.italdesig..._std&id_brand=4

Anyway I'm already happy that a European company bought Ducati...

Edited April 20, 2012 by Richard-BKK