Volkswagen is looking to sell Ducati and Royal Enfield could buy the iconic brand.
Royal Enfield is one of the most profitable two-wheeler brands in the world and has been posting record sales month after month. The British brand which is now owned by Eicher Motors of India has shown its mettle in the middle-weight segment with the Chennai-based automaker turning around the retro brand. Now with Volkswagen looking to sell Ducati, Royal Enfield could end up buying it.
As per latest news, Volkswagen has approached Royal Enfield to purchase Ducati as the German automaker is reeling under a financial crisis caused by the diesel-gate scandal. The asking price is around 1.5 billion Euros (Rs. 10,500 crores) and Volkswagen bought Ducati for around Rs. 6000 crores a couple of years back. Royal Enfield is evaluating how Ducati could fit into its portfolio and align with its operations. While Eicher Motors MD refused to give a concrete answer on a purchase, he said they are open to thoughts and ideas.
With Ducati only makes motorcycles ranging from 800cc to 1200cc (the exception being the 400cc Scrambler Sixty2), Royal Enfield could find the Italian company a good fit as the Bullet maker’s bikes have engines between 349 – 535cc. But before anyone gets too excited, it’s too early to comment on the sale of Ducati to Royal Enfield as Honda, Hero, Harley-Davidson, Suzuki and Polaris are too considering a purchase of the Panigale maker.
Eicher Motors recently revealed plans of investing Rs. 800 crores in Royal Enfield which will be used to boost production capacity to 8.25 lakh units this fiscal and also develop new products. The company’s consolidated total income stood at Rs. 2132.5 crores last year, this also includes the automaker’s truck business (it has a tie-up with Volvo for VE commercial vehicles and Polaris for personal utility vehicles).
Royal Enfield Ducati
– Royal Enfield is aiming at global leadership in the middle-weight segment
– The company is posting record sales with heavy profits
– A buyout of Ducati could help RE reach more markets
– VW wants to focus on its core business of cars and not bikes
