Recently, rumors about Volkswagen selling Ducati in its attempt to reorganize its structure and future strategy surfaced, but company officials quickly debunked them.
It was said that in its plan to step up electric vehicle development, while phasing out more than 40 models in order to make way to new, all-electric vehicles, Volkswagen would get rid of non-core, expandable assets which weren’t profitable for the German company even before the major emission cheating scandal.
That put Ducati in the first line of firing, especially as Volkswagen’s 2012 acquisition of the motorcycle manufacturer was viewed as a hollow “trophy collecting” move by some analysts, due to Ducati’s low impact on the Wolfsburg-based firm.
Those “concerns”, like the rumors, turned out to be unfounded, as Ducati closed 2015 with its best-ever results, selling 54,800 bikes; a 24% increase over 2014, with the Italian brand delivering 9,683 more bikes.
Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has officially confirmed to Motorcycle News that Volkswagen definitely won’t part ways with Ducati, despite recent speculations, saying: “Ducati is not for sale.”
Moreover, Volkswagen won’t be selling any part of its conglomerate brands at this stage, including Man, Scania, and other side business’ like components manufacturing and ship engines.
Ducati XDiavel pictured
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