MV Agusta shifts focus to US, Asia

The United States, Brazil and Asia are going to be key markets for Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta. And to drive growth, the company will be looking at including key personnel on the ground in these markets.

MV Agusta has partnered with E.I.M., a global leader in providing interim or permanent executive management solutions to support companies’ global growth.  MV Agusta and E.I.M. will work together to develop a global resourcing plan that will accelerate MV Agusta’s growth in key markets including USA, Brazil, Asia and select countries in Europe.

“Over recent years, we have supported our growth through a strong product development pipeline launching exceptional technically advanced products across many segments. Now, with the right products available to meet consumer demand, we are investing our efforts in restarting and restructuring our on-the-ground operations in the USA and other selected markets,” said Giovanni Castiglioni, chairman and president of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A.

MV Agusta manufactured small displacement café racer style motorcycles with displacements in the range of 125 to 150cc in the 1950s and ‘60s. Towards the latter part of the ‘60s, MV started producing larger displacement motorcycles, first a 250cc, then a 350cc twin and a 600cc four cylinder was developed into a 750cc. Throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s MV Agusta dominated all classes in the Italian Grand Prix, winning 270 Grand Prix motorcycle races and winning many MotoGP titles right until the late ‘70s.  

MV has had five owners in the last 15 years, with Malaysian automaker Proton buying it in 2004, then selling it to a Genoa-based securities company in 2005. In 2008, Harley-Davidson acquired MV Agusta for $109 million but barely two years later, in 2010, former owner Claudio Castiglioni, who was serving as chairman since Harley-Davidson acquired the company in 2008, bought back MV Agusta. During this time, MV also sold off Husqvarna to BMW to keep the company afloat.

Running the company is proving to be difficult and in recent times, the Castiglioni family is reported to be looking to offload 30 per cent of the company on the stock exchange. According to reports, Daimler is reportedly showing interest in picking up that stake in MV Agusta.