RE: PH2: Audi buys Ducati
Discussion
sanctum said:
Audi may be pulling the same trick that BMW did when they bought Land Rover for the 4x4 technology. The Ducati knowledge of bike engines and design should lead to a new generation of VAG engines built for weight and efficiency for introduction around 2017.
If VAG make a car that sounds like a 996 at full chat then I'll be interested. However, if the fuel economy of the Duc engine scales up accordingly then you'd need to be an oil tycoon to run it...
Surely this has got to be a positive for Ducati even if it only assures there financial future?
Based on there past history this wouldn't be a bad thing.
Also Audi's quality control reputation wouldn’t do them any harm.
It would be good if VAG developed the bike equivalent of the Bugatti Veyron!!!..
Personally I'm glad that Ducati's future is more secure and I'll look forward to seeing what the future holds!
Based on there past history this wouldn't be a bad thing.
Also Audi's quality control reputation wouldn’t do them any harm.
It would be good if VAG developed the bike equivalent of the Bugatti Veyron!!!..
Personally I'm glad that Ducati's future is more secure and I'll look forward to seeing what the future holds!
Mr2Mike said:
If they are making the financial decisions don't you think it would be a good idea?
Not necessarily. Investment Capital groups invest in companies in which they have no business knowledge and they manage. Presumably they employ people who can advise them.One could argue that being in the Motor Industry, Audi have more knowledge than a simple Investment company so things are slightly easier for them.
a great thing for the bike world.
If you look what Vag did to lambourghini then i can see this being a win win situation for another italian sports brand. plus its a good deal fro VAG as they need two wheel precence, couple that with a mainstream touring/offorad bike firm ( such as KTM maybe) and they could have a nioce little firm there.
Whatever the deal it should be applauded as we have lost too many well known brands in the automotive world already.
If you look what Vag did to lambourghini then i can see this being a win win situation for another italian sports brand. plus its a good deal fro VAG as they need two wheel precence, couple that with a mainstream touring/offorad bike firm ( such as KTM maybe) and they could have a nioce little firm there.
Whatever the deal it should be applauded as we have lost too many well known brands in the automotive world already.
JonRB said:
C3 said:
What does Audi know about bikes?
I don't get this. What do Audi *need* to know about bikes? Surely all they need to do is bankroll and nurture Ducati. I'm presuming that Ducati know stuff about bikes since they make them? Or have I missed something here?
OK, maybe they won't, but I really don't think that, having made this acquisition, Audi are just going to sit back pumping money into Ducati and creaming off the returns. They will want a say in how it's run, and it'll be run for maximum profit.
Twincam16 said:
I just wonder whether Audi's accountants will attempt to make Ducati more 'cost effective' by making the bikes less bespoke, sharing more frames and engines across the range (some models could be reduced to a mere variation on the bodywork, such is the Audi way),
Which is just what Ducati have been doing for years, their best selling bike (Monster) was a parts-bin special and many components are common to many models, also many of the top-of-the-range models having little more than a paint job & some bling over the base model...catso said:
Which is just what Ducati have been doing for years, their best selling bike (Monster) was a parts-bin special and many components are common to many models, also many of the top-of-the-range models having little more than a paint job & some bling over the base model...
yes, but they are not masking the 1199 Tricolore as another model, are they? He wasn't talking about an "s-line" model, he was talking about all the models on the same platform with basically another skin over it. Sort of like making an enduro from the monster, and then making a sportsbike from it but also a tourer.Most of Ducati's line up shares components, if you're into your Dukes you'd easily see components being re-used across the board..
Example
Multistrada 1200 wheels - Ducati 848 wheels
MTS 1200 brakes - Ducati 848 (non-evo)
MTS 1200 engine - Ducati 1198 (albeit with different cams etc)
Frames
Forks
Engines
Example
Multistrada 1200 wheels - Ducati 848 wheels
MTS 1200 brakes - Ducati 848 (non-evo)
MTS 1200 engine - Ducati 1198 (albeit with different cams etc)
Frames
Forks
Engines
Is there another way of looking at this, putting a positive spin on the other smaller Italian bike manufacturers?
For example, we may see those that are most faithful to the Ducati brand look elsewhere now for their characterful Italian fun - would this mean we see an increase in sales for guys like MV Agusta, Moto Guzzi and Bimota - with MV the most likely benefactor with their current F3/F4 line-up (playing 848 and 1199 sales?)... In which case more in the pot for their R&D, and ultimately better bikes from their stable too (and perhaps the F3 would actually get the tweaking required deserved of its looks).
That certainly can't be a bad thing for the industry either.
For example, we may see those that are most faithful to the Ducati brand look elsewhere now for their characterful Italian fun - would this mean we see an increase in sales for guys like MV Agusta, Moto Guzzi and Bimota - with MV the most likely benefactor with their current F3/F4 line-up (playing 848 and 1199 sales?)... In which case more in the pot for their R&D, and ultimately better bikes from their stable too (and perhaps the F3 would actually get the tweaking required deserved of its looks).
That certainly can't be a bad thing for the industry either.
ducnick said:
A new range of special edition "Ducati" VW Golf's by next year, or VW switch gear and Passat wing mirrors on the next gen superbike? Either way its got to be a bad thing.
As far as I can tell there is only one "synergy", and that is a shared philosophy to make it understeer by nature.
Yeah, because they made such a mess of Lamborghini, didn't they?As far as I can tell there is only one "synergy", and that is a shared philosophy to make it understeer by nature.
M.
Twincam16 said:
OK, maybe they won't, but I really don't think that, having made this acquisition, Audi are just going to sit back pumping money into Ducati and creaming off the returns. They will want a say in how it's run, and it'll be run for maximum profit.
Like those re-badged Golfs that Lamborghini make, you mean? You really do talk a load of rubbish sometimes, Twinners.
Gatsods said:
So what's going to happen to Ducati & AMG's tie up then, I doubt VAG will allow that to contineu now they own the brand!
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Daimler AG will no longer cooperatewith Ducati Motor Holding SpA following the Italian motorcycle
maker’s purchase yesterday by Volkswagen AG’s Audi. “We
had a quite good and successful marketing cooperation with
Ducati since the end of 2010,” Daimler spokesman Wolfgang
Zanker said today in a telephone interview. “With Volkswagen
taking over Ducati, this cooperation naturally ends.”
Zanker said that Daimler never had an interest in buying
Ducati. The partnership did not include the development of
vehicles, he said.
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