According to the company's workers, it's only a matter of hours, any day could be the right one to announce that Ducati has officially passed into the hands of Audi. Corriere della Sera is also talking about it today, stating that the Germans intend to replicate the Lamborghini model with Ducati, that is to say leave the company in the Bologna area and make use of the resources that the "district" (or what's left of it) can offer.
It's a solution that the unions like very much, who have learned to appreciate Audi (and Volkswagen which is the upstream property) over the years of work in Sant'Agata Bolognese, where the Lamborghini brand has grown in importance and sales. Audi is the industrial partner that Ducati needs, even in this critical phase for world motorcycle racing and in the difficult relationship with Valentino Rossi. According to rumors circulating in recent days, the agreed price for the Diavel manufacturer is around 750 million euros, taking into account a debt of around 150 million and a 2011 turnover of almost 500 million (around 42 bikes sold).
Ducati is an Italian jewel, from that Bologna motor valley that certainly no longer speaks in dialect. Minarelli moved to Yamaha in 2002; Moto Morini was bought by two Milanese entrepreneurs, Sandro Capotosti and Ruggero Massimo Jannuzzelli, by the bankruptcy trustee and today it is back on track with Rebello, a motorcycle that can be bought on the internet and boasts the famous Marzocchi forks, also once authentically Bolognese . However, in 2008 they too were bought by the American Tenneco Inc. Like Verlicchi, a master in looms, which after a long negotiation passed to Donati, of Vicopisano (Pisa).
The Malaguti family, on the other hand, has chosen the path of closure, which is keeping alive only the spare parts and assistance sector so as not to leave those who still travel on Vespas and motorbikes of the famous Bolognese house stranded. It is argued that the sector was overwhelmed by the sales crises but also by globalization which hit the supply chain hard, deeply affecting the district.
In short, there's probably something to celebrate if Audi really closes the deal with Andrea Bonomi (Ducati hasn't been owned by Bologna for a while), anyway Bologna has something to think about.
“Everything in this city is for sale – says Orio Pontiggia, managing director of B.Group, Isabella Seragnoli's investment company – it's just a matter of price. Or rather let's say that companies are now divided into two categories: those that buy and those that are bought. Among the large local buyers there are certainly Gd, Ima, Datalogic, but if we look around from Ferretti to Mandarina Duck we see how many companies have changed hands. Today to stay on the market, to handle the crisis, a critical mass is needed and in any case there is an economic rule that is even more valid than in the past: standing still is impossible”.
