A few weeks ago we received news that caught us a little by surprise, and that was that Ducati could be outside the Volkswagen Group in the near future. Precisely these rumors, because there was no official confirmation, spoke that the situation of the German group added to the good functioning of the Italian brand could be a solution to obtain liquidity. Now, all these rumors are beginning to gain more strength, because there are already the first confirmations that something is moving.
The news comes from two different points, although officially neither Ducati nor Volkswagen have confirmed anything at the moment. Those who have taken the situation seriously and have openly asked about it are the workers in Italy and Germany, who have requested information about it. To this we must add an anonymous source from MotorcycleSports.net, who claimed to have seen internal documentation about a proposal to acquire 100% of Ducati Motor Holding.
Meanwhile, as we say, officially no one within the group is making any moves and, in fact, Claudio Domenicali himself, CEO of Ducati, had downplayed that possibility. However, the new information is more aimed at ensuring that the rumors are true than that Domenicali’s words continue to be valid.
Patritalia assures that it wants to buy Ducati
And there is even a company with a name and surname and a person in charge who has spoken with RideApart colleagues who confirm that they were the ones behind the offer. We are talking about Patritalia SpA, an investment company founded by Massimo Ros.
Ros, very clearly confirmed the situation: “I can confirm that the rumors are founded. Patritalia SpA has formally expressed its interest and is fully prepared to acquire 100% of Ducati Motor Holding SpA.”
Behind this business movement there is also a nationalist and patriotic movement, since the group’s idea is for the historical Italian brands to once again be controlled by Italians instead of foreign companies: “The sole mission I set behind the creation of Patritalia is to ‘bring back home’ our Italian companies and iconic Italian brands that are currently under foreign ownership and return them to Italian control. Our goal is to promote a form of industrial recovery, allowing these historic brands to once again be guided by Italian vision, culture and creativity, with the aim of restoring the soul of Italian entrepreneurship.”
However, there are some of Ros’s statements that, from a rational and practical point of view, do not agree with reality. And beyond the verbiage, the negotiations or not that there may be and the “blue feeling” behind this movement, it confirmed that they would expand their presence in competition with Moto3 and Moto2, in addition to Supermotard. Although the latter is possible and with the bike they presented at WDW it is something that undoubtedly happened, neither Moto3 nor Moto2 are categories where Ducati can now enter by regulation. So what about the rest of the statements? Are they just talk? Is there more propaganda than reality?
Be that as it may, what is certain is that Ducati today is still owned by Volkswagen and that the rumors are just that, rumors.
