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Harley-Davidson buys MV Agusta

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Harley-Davidson and MV Agusta couldn’t be more opposite. While both motorcycle manufacturers are legendary, one is known for cruisers, the other for high-performance sportbikes. Where one is quintessentially American, the other is distinctively European. Yet the two legendary marques will merge, according to an agreement announced earlier today. Harley-Davidson Inc., based in MIlwaukee, is acquiring MV Agusta Group, of Varese, Italy. The pricetag: $109 million. In a deal expected to be completed within ‘several weeks,’ Harley-Davidson will take over the MV Agusta and Cagiva brands, both of which will continue to operate from their Italian headquarters.

‘Motorcycles are the heart, soul and passion of Harley-Davidson, Buell and MV Agusta. Both have great products and close connections with incredibly devoted customers,’ Harley-Davidson chief executive officer Jim Ziemer stated in a press release issued Friday. According to Ziemer, the acquistion is meant to expand Harley-Davidson’s presence in Europe, where Harley sales have been growing at a double-digit pace for three years running. In the U.S., however, Harley sales have been experiencing quite the opposite. Overall sales are down, after peaking at a whopping 349,156 motorcycles per year in 2006.

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MV Agusta, which makes about 6,000 motorcycles each year and sells almost 1,000 of those in North America, has also been in financial trouble, due to problems with the Italian banking system and a weak dollar that was eroding the company’s profitability in its second most lucrative market -- the U.S. MV Agusta had planned to introduce as many as five new platforms in the next three years, several of them in entirely new market segments. MV’s acquisition by Harley-Davidson means those platforms and models are more likely to proceed as planned.

‘We take enormous pride in MV Agusta and Cagiva motorcycles,’ said MV Agusta president Claudio Castiglioni, whose family owns 95% of the shares in MV Agusta Group. ‘Our riders seek an uncompromising experience in premium performance motorcycles. And with Harley-Davidson’s deep understanding of the emotional as well as the business side of motorcycling, I have great confidence that our motorcycles will excite customers for generations to come.’

-- Susan Carpenter

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