Filed under: Coupe, Europe, Mercedes-Benz, Earnings/Financials, Motorcycle
BMW obviously builds motorcycles, and Volkswagen Group owns Ducati. Now, fellow German automaker Daimler is hopping into the two-wheel game by buying a 25-percent stake in Italian sportbike maker MV Agusta for an undisclosed price.
According to Daimler's press release, its Mercedes-AMG division is actually the one that's going to be working with MV Agusta in a "long-term partnership," including coordinated marketing and sales. The automaker is also appointing a member to the motorcycle company's board of directors. At this time, there's no mention of actually co-developing models together, though.
"MV Agusta and Mercedes-AMG are a perfect brand fit: Two complementary companies that stand for design, high performance and excellence. Mercedes-AMG will help MV Agusta to further expand globally and to accelerate our growth," said MV Agusta president and CEO Giovanni Castiglioni in Daimler's announcement.
The support of a huge automaker like Daimler might be the jolt that MV Agusta needs at the moment. The company was founded in 1945 and built a reputation for crafting racing-winning motorcycles. However, in recent years things have been tough. Harley-Davidson wasn't able to turn the situation around, and the bike maker has been searching for a buyer for much of this year. First, Fiat was rumored to be interested. More recently, Daimler was reported to be considering purchasing a minority stake. Apparently, that deal worked out in the end. Scroll down to read the official announcement of the purchase.
Continue reading Daimler buys 25 percent of MV Agusta
Daimler buys 25 percent of MV Agusta originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Oct 2014 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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