There have been several speculations about Ducati’s future and wheather Volkswagen will sell the brand to help fund a strategic overhaul post the emissions scandal. Previous reports indicated Indian brands such as Hero MotoCorp and Royal Enfield were on the list of potential buyers. In latest news, Bajaj Auto has reportedly joined the race to buy the Italian two-wheeler brand. Bajaj Auto already owns a majority stake in Austrian two-wheeler brand, KTM.
The news comes from news agency Reuters who suggest that Harley-Davidson and Bajaj Auto are also preparing to bid for the Audi owned two-wheeler company. In fact, a source close to the developments told the news agency that Harley-Davidson has hired Goldman Sachs to work on the deal and that the tentative bids were expected in July. Moreover, Volkswagen, whose Audi division owns Ducati is reportedly working with investment boutique Evercore on the sale.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s powerful labor unions is strongly opposing the sale of the Italian brand. Volkswagen group’s works council said in an e-mail, “Ducati is a jewel, the sale of which is not supported by the labor representatives on Volkswagen’s supervisory board. Harley-Davidson is miles behind Ducati in technology terms.”
None of the parties have made any official statement about the possible sale of the brand but if at all anything of such sort is on the cards, we may hear an official statement in the coming months.
Source: Reuters