HomeBike NewsBajaj, Harley Davidson join Royal Enfield, Hero in race to purchase Ducati?

Bajaj, Harley Davidson join Royal Enfield, Hero in race to purchase Ducati?

Volkswagen, faced with a need to settling an estimated €16.2 billion in fines and expenses as a result of its emission cheating scandal could be considering selling some of its brands that include Ducati, Scania and MAN. This will allow the company to recover some of its losses and get the company back on track.

Chief Executive Officer, Matthias Mueller is in the process of strategy review that targets Volkswagen AG’s current portfolio that includes Ducati, Scania, and Man brands among the company’s 12 brands and side businesses, reveals Bloomberg.

Under the VW Group there are brands like Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, MAN, Scania, SEAT, Skoda, and Volkswagen. In their bid to become the largest car maker in the world by 2018, VW Group was on a spree collecting brands as and when possible. Dieselgate has probably brought a halt to this spree, atleast for now. Selling brands will bring in cash as the company faces severe losses due to fines levied for its diesel emission scandal. While the company had set aside $18.2 billion to cover losses due to fines, recalls and repair costs, it needs to refill its coffers with sale of brands being its only recourse.

A few weeks back, a Reuter report suggested that VW is in talks with Hero MotoCorp and some Chinese brands to sell their Ducati brand. Some days later, a report from Times of India reported that Royal Enfield too is in a race to purchase the famous Italian brand. While there have been no confirmation either from Ducati, or VW regarding the same, there is a new report, again from Reuters. This time they have stated that Harley Davidson, as well as Bajaj Auto from India have also joined the race to purchase Ducati!

Hero launched the new Glamour in Argentina.

Right from the start, when Audi purchased Ducati in 2012, there have been problems within the group as many were not of the opinion to purchase Ducati. But Audi still went ahead and completed the purchase. Now, with VW reeling under pressure, it seems that Ducati is the first one to be sold. The valuation of Ducati has been set at $1.5 billion (or INR 9,620 crore).

Though yet unclear what is the real deal, one thing is for sure – If any of the Indian brand, Bajaj or Hero MotoCorp or Royal Enfield can manage to purchase the Ducati brand, it will be a huge boost in their respective aim to become a global leader in motorcycles.

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