http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=12775 The following is from Harley-Davidson... Milwaukee, Wis., Aug. 8, 2008 -- Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) today announced the completion of its purchase of the privately-held Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta Group. The Company has acquired 100 percent of MV Agusta Group shares for total consideration of approximately 70 million euros ($108 million), which includes the satisfaction of existing bank debt for approximately 45 million euros ($69 million). “We are thrilled to welcome the MV Agusta family of customers and employees into the Harley-Davidson family of premium motorcycle brands,” said Harley-Davidson, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jim Ziemer. “Our primary focus with this acquisition is to grow our presence and enhance our position in Europe as a leader in fulfilling customers’ dreams, complementing the Harley-Davidson and Buell motorcycle families,” Ziemer said. Retail sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles have grown at a double-digit rate in Europe in each of the last three years, as the Company has increased its strategic focus on global markets. MV Agusta Group adds two lines of motorcycles to the Harley-Davidson, Inc. family: a line of exclusive, premium, high-performance sport motorcycles sold under the MV Agusta brand; and a line of lightweight sport motorcycles sold under the Cagiva brand. MV Agusta’s F4-R motorcycle, powered by a 1078cc in-line four-cylinder liquid cooled engine, is rated at 190 hp. In conjunction with finalizing the acquisition, Harley-Davidson has named Matt Levatich as Managing Director of MV Agusta Group. Levatich, 43, joined Harley-Davidson in 1994 and has served in a variety of roles, including significant positions in Harley-Davidson Europe sales and marketing, based in England. He headed Harley-Davidson materials management as Vice President for four years and most recently was Vice President and General Manager of Parts and Accessories and Custom Vehicle Operations.
Even a scalpel like the F4 with a 360 rear tire still won't turn that well. I wonder if they'll drop the Senna model in favor of a Indian Larry model?
Would this mean sometime in the future I can get a Cagiva Gran Canyon at the local Harley Dealer? Wishful thinking.
Seems like Harley has bought an extended dealer network in europe. Perfect given the flat sales in the US, and the HUGE advantage of retailing a US built bike in europe--with the Euro at $1.60--US built bikes must seem relatively cheap--even with VAT. I wonder if there is any way they could keep the F4 production in europe but come out with some US built 600's or 750's or something? Probably not. I still think Harley needs to buy the deisel USMC bike supplier and come out with commuter bikes that get 100mph, and then a bio-deisel quad for the farmers and deer hunters.
I've got a buddy with an F4 that I ride with often on my Duc. I've been busting his chops about renaming his MV an MV/HD and painting it orange and black instead of red and silver. He doesn't think I'm very funny...
I was over at GP Cycles awhile back while a buddy bought a TE610 (i had to be there, just to make sure he went thru with it...) and i was all stoked just to see all those Huskys lined up. SO i am sitting at the little office desk while they do the paperwork and then look over and 10 feet away where 6 F4's....it blew my mind. If i ever buy a fast street look at me kinda bike, it will be the F4. Say what you will about the Castiglioni clan--they made some incredibly gorgious bikes.
A key part of the deal for Harley was they got Massimo Tamburini. Tamburini is without a doubt the greatest motorcycle designer of all time. Not just that but he was the father of Bimota and the mind behind every modern area Cagiva product which included all MV Agusta's, all Husqvarna's after 2004, and styling of the Ducati 916, Monster and 900SS while owned by Cagiva. He was also behind the Cagiva Mito and Rapture line. http://www.mvagusta.com/_vti_g2_st4.aspx?rpstry=24_ If anything it was Massimo Tamburini that should get the credit for MV Agusta and Cagiva's great products. Harley views Massimo Tamburini on the same level as their own Willy Davidson and for a company like Harley to admit that is pretty impressive. BlipBlip
Totally agree about Tamborini as a living legend. I was wondering how he would fit in with the deal, if it all. Very interesting to see he is gonna be part of the Harley/Agusta group.
Was it him who came up with the Ducati Motard bike? It does make me a little nervous now that he is gone from the Husky brand.
No... Massimo Tamburini was not involved with that project. Ducati and Cagiva have been separate for almost 10 years now. Tamburini was behind the Ducati 916, MV Agusta F4 and Brutale as well as a bunch of other bikes under the Cagiva umbrella. BlipBlip!
I knew they were seperate but I thought I read somewhere that he came up with idea a long time ago and Ducati never moved on it until now. I was wrong.
Possibly, but Supermoto wasn't even around when Cagiva sold off Ducati.... and MV Agusta was just a name that Cagiva had recently bought, but wasn't producing bikes as of yet. BlipBlip!
All in all I'm happy with the purchase, MV will get a bunch of cash that it never really had, etc. Looking forward to some new models from MV, be it the fabled 'single' or the F3 (675 i'm guessing). Don't expect these to be made in the USA, in fact, i wouldn't be too happy about that (no great rationale here....). With some luck (money), perhaps HD will get MV back on the race track where they belong!?!?
I wonder what if any will be the implications to the Buell brand? Can you imagine that bike with the right engine in it?
Buell has to get rid of that boat anchor air cooled v-twin. With access to "real" Hi-performance engines the brand should be able to rise up to it's true performance potential instead of just being an oddity.
MV is in a different class (performance, price....) than the Buell. Buell's are kinda neat, they have their place. They certainly sound nice, performance or not. I suppose I should really ride one and check it out. On the other side of air-cooled v-twins are bimota's.... they are not horribly fast, but really really neat. i want one. We'll see what happens, 'tis a curious subject....
