Good to see the Ducati for sale rumour mill is still in full working order. So what's today's gossip? Well, now Ducati is (possibly) going to be bought by Hero MotoCorp, an Indian company ahich has until recently had very close links with Honda. Hero's MD Pawan Kant Munjal was quoted by Bloomberg as saying his company had been approached with regards to the sale.
Bike maker wants to buy bike maker? Hold the front page...
That's not very surprising; Hero makes bikes and has a history of working with known brands, and Ducati's owners Investindustrial are looking at offloading the company. Of course they will be talking. The more you talk the more press coverage you get, and the more interest there is surrounding the brand the higher the price. Simple.
...But it's not that simple
Will it happen? Well here is my issue with the whole 'Ducati for sale' thing. Yes, Ducati is for sale and yes, it is a company making money and turning over bikes, but there is also a slight problem. The premium motorcycle world is currently declining and, if you are looking at big money in the bike world, you need to focus on Asia and emerging markets.
At the moment these markets are only interested in small-capacity bikes, and large-capacity machines are sold only in very small numbers. This will certainly change, but as it stands today the money isn't in luxury bikes. Ducati's focus is on premium models with the 1199 Panigale, Multistrada, Diavel etc and these require big money to develop and keep ahead of the game.
Then there is the racing side. Rossi's failure in MotoGP isn't helping the sale and, while Ducati won WSB last year, they did it on the old 1198, something they may well repeat this year, again on the older bike. The Panigale has already sold in phenomenal numbers this year, but will the public's appetite still be there next year? The first year of a bike's sale is always a spike, as it is a new model and interest is high. Will people still want, or be able to afford, a £15,000-£25,000 superbike next year?
A Halo for Hero?
PH2 isn't convinced Ducati will be sold this year at all. In the current economic climate a billion euros is a hell of a gamble to take on a market that isn't looking that strong. There again, if Hero can back up the finances with small-capacity bike sales for volume and use Ducati as a premium brand to show off with, it may make sense. At a billion euros? I'd say not, but if the price drops the game may change.
One final question: who will Ducati be linked with next week? Bajaj? Tata? Mercedes? What about Triumph...?
