Audi drops plan to sell Italian bike brand Ducati

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has said that the motorcycle brand Ducati is no longer for sale. Ducati is a subsidiary of Audi which is owned by the Volkswagen group. Earlier reports indicated that Eicher Motors would be bidding for the same, but later in October 2017, Volkswagen halted the sale over rising opposition from its labour unions. And now, Audi has officially announced that it won’t be selling off Ducati.

The Italian brand was put on sale following the Volkswagen emissions scandal. The Volkswagen Group had been working closely with Evercore - a boutique investment bank and had valued the motorcycle brand at 1.5 billion Euros. The funds from the sale were supposed to be used for a complete strategic overhaul at Volkswagen. But Audi, with subsidiaries Ducati and Lamborghini, has been reporting a higher profit for the last nine months.

According to Stadler, steps like reducing costs by 10 billion Euros, reducing red-tape and improving the tie-ups with sister brand Porsche have improved the company's finances. Hence, there is no longer is any benefit to parent Volkswagen Group by selling the Italian bike brand. Further, banks were asked to rework finances of Ducati and gearbox maker Renk earlier this year. He also said that holding on to brands like Ducati and Lamborghini are even more important with the eventual shift to zero-emission and autonomous vehicles.

However, investors and potential buyers speculate that the German brand will sell off Ducati sooner or later as the bike brand is of least strategic importance to the company.

Source - Reuters