INTERVIEW
we cover approximately 90 per cent of the
market and cover it quite well.
Boris: The motorcycle industry, certainly in
Australia, is in a state of great change at the
moment. I hear rumours of brands partnering
with car importers to expand the dealer network
and make it easier for potential and existing
motorcycle customers to access the bikes. Does
Ducati have any plans in that regard, say with
either Audi or Volkswagen? We do not have any
Lamborghini dealers I know of.
Sergi: That is a very interesting question. As a
part of Audi we have a lot of common values. We
have had some good experiences in other parts
of the world of integration between our brands.
I was just discussing three weeks ago with my
colleague in Brazil, who applied this strategy of
having Ducati inside an Audi dealership and it was
very successful. What I have to tell you is that in
Australia, at least since the beginning of this new
operation we are going to have here, there has
been a lot of interest from potential investors,
which we are definitely evaluating.
Boris: There is a big push from many bike
manufacturers to address the huge and
expanding Asian and Indian market by creating
smaller capacity motorcycles. Ducati has always
been a premium, aspirational brand, and building
bikes for the masses is not in its DNA. Will
economic reality change this?
Sergi: There is an important thing here. I think that
making this move really needs to be well thought
out. And what I see in the markets is that most of
the brands that went down this path, partnered
with somebody else to make a motorcycle and
then branded it as their own. In this case you have
the risk of losing the brand quality. I can tell you that
all our bikes, all our engines, are made in Ducati, by
Ducati. And I think that is a key point for us. We
design and we produce our products and then we
take them to market. I think that is one of our key
strengths, which, in the current situation with small
bikes, would put at risk the Ducati DNA. Of course,
it is a very interesting market and we have been
analysing this deeply and having our own thoughts,
but so far, I cannot tell you we are going this way.
If we were going into this market,
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