Here’s an extract from an interview with Bloomberg where Herbert Diess talks about the options for Ducati...
Growth Growth Growth, that's all these CEO's or whatever they like to call themselves want. It's not the be all and and all FFS... Where I work have had growth 50% year on year for 5 years and in that 5 years our profitability has dropped from a healthy 10% into minus figures. Ducati have already done what Ferrari did by over pricing (although on a smaller scale), now they want more volume and 'growth' which will ultimately more likely de-value the brand
Yep - totally agree - when i came to work for the company im with now its was a really good place to work - still is to a certain extent but, the massive corporate network that we are now part of has meant weve become slow, sluggish and not very quick to react....just like our competitors...
Hazarding a guess, the CEO must be conscious that BMW sells about 160,000 motorbikes per year, while Ducati sells only 50,000 - 60,000 per year. He cannot be happy about that. VW expects to beat (or at least rival) BMW in most market sectors, and usually does. He may well be pondering ways to triple Ducati's output. I wonder how this could be done?
Well, that's an option. But: High prices = exclusivity, prestige, brand value, profits. Low prices = competition with mass market brands, low profit margins.
Sell more in China, and base plants there. Except they like British brands. or... High prices mean restricted market access as niche player Lower prices mean mass market appeal with high target audience and a strategy to deliver market share I’d be amazed if CEO expected triple the sales to mean triple the margins....
Ubiquitous and bland is where it will head. We're already on that road with the VFR Speciale. We've lost the V-Twin and the trellis frame. I guess thats progress. Whats next? Inline 4's? Scooters? I'd sooner they sold it and left it to the Italians. That way we can get crazy but beautiful back instead of teutonic efficiency. Bollocks to the Germans. Prob go bust though.
With the GS and S1000RR BMW undercut Ducati prices, "but of course sir might like to add a few options..." so the prestige isn't lost. You don't see many non-TE GS's (Gii? Geese?) or non-Sport model S1000RRs about. Ducati could do the same and price the poverty spec Mutley and Panigale competitively. Of course it helps that the BMW products don't have tinpot little pressed metal brackets hither and thither (yes, Panigale 959 exhaust hanger... I'm looking at you!).
I wouldn’t exactly call the new V4 ubiquitous, maybe ugly, compared to what came before. The problem for Ducati is their accessible bikes are boring low powered street bikes, as soon as you look at the brand to deliver something innovative or performance oriented things get expensive. Nothing wrong with demanding a premium provided it delivers value, and I think that’s where they are struggling. Look at a brands like KTM, it has exiting performance oriented mid tier bikes while also providing their flagship models at fairly accessible prices. Let’s say Ducati do bring out a Streetfighter V4S in the next 18 months, you know it will be 30% more expensive than the SuperDuke or Aprilia. Also, look at the middleweight bikes from the likes of Triumph and Yamaha, they are far from ubiquitous and put Ducati to shame. It’s well known that the motorcycle industry is struggling to attract younger riders, and it seems brands like KTM, Triumph and Yamaha are trying to cater for them wheather it’s a city, street, retro or performance bikes. Ducati on the other hand seem to be selling to largely the same customer base they are familiar with.
Have we? That must have passed me by. I thought Ducati were making 50,000 V-twins with trellis frames per year, and introducing new models of them all the time. Indeed I bought a new one such myself last year.
Ye boring supersports for old duffers. Not my cup of tea. I aint ready to retire and wear plaid slippers just yet Pete. I wanna new 1098R type of madness.
They have introduced and expanded the Multistrada range, the Diavel range, and the Scrambler range in recent years, each aimed at new market segments. It is my guess they will introduce further ranges in coming years, all of them trying to attract at a different segment.
That’s my point, all those bikes are bought by a very similar demographic. You’re not going to get many mid to early twenties guys or girls taking a second look at those bikes. Harley have started to branch out from their traditional range for that very reason, but for Ducati it’s a new market - although I like the Diavel range it doesn’t seem like a great strategy.
The new VW boss is the chap who changed BMW motorrad from making a few rather old boxer engined dinasores into the business they are today. He was the one who changed the BMW 25,000 a year max into the 160,000+ a year they do these days. Based on that he might know what he is doing... Only time will tell.
A sensible, multi brand ceo would have a plant that can build multiple platforms and vehicle types, including bikes.
Just out of interest do you know why and how that is? It’s because the entrepreneurial young can apply to the Chinese government (think dragons den stylee) with a business idea, and the government give them money to start/develop a business so that they can begin to employ people and take them out of the countryside/agricultural sector and into the developing commercial and industrial sectors. It’s part of the urbanisation strategy of the Chinese government. So calling them all “millionaires” is a bit of a stretch really as all they are doing is playing with government funds.
