I have been using a bike with Marzocchi since a while now, the Benelli 899. But was recently that I learnt about how unrelenting modern day business methodologies are.
Marzocchi is an Italian manufacturer founded in 1949 by the two brothers Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi. The company profile includes hydraulic industrial pumps and suspension components for motorcycles and bicycles. In 2008 the company was acquired by American automotive parts manufacturer Tenneco.
Up until the 1980s, Marzocchi were original equipment manufacturers (‘OEM’) for a number of Italian motorcycle marques including Moto Morini and Ducati, their oil shock absorbers also being OEM for Triumph Motorcycles in the latter stages of their production at the Meriden plant. Their later ‘Strada’ model introduced a degree of air suspension to motorcycling and, like the oil shocks, were available as aftermarket fittings for a large number of models. Strada units were OEM for Triumph’s T140LE Royal Wedding and TSS models. A big advantage of the Marzocchi shock was its ability to be rebuilt, seal kits and service manuals being readily available. Meriden also experimented with using Marzocchi front forks which were also used on some Italian models. Meriden however closed down before any such forks reached production models.
Marzocchi shocks, albeit of more modern design, are still OEM for a number of manufacturers.
In July Tenneco broke news of winding up the Marzocchi business. Apparently the company could not keep up with the more high tech competitors like WP and Ohlins who were developing better technologies.
Here is an excerpt from a release by Tenneco in July 2015 :
Tenneco Inc. (NYSE:TEN) announced today its intention to discontinue its Marzocchi motor bike fork suspension business and its mountain bike business, and liquidate its Marzocchi operations.
These actions are subject to a consultation process with the employee representatives and in total would eliminate approximately 138 jobs.Tenneco currently employs 127 people at the Marzocchi plant in Bologna, Italy and an additional 11 people in its operations in North America and Taiwan.
Tenneco intends to assist its motor bike customers with the transition of current production to an alternative supplier and expects to complete the closure by the end of 2015.
“We sincerely regret the impact these actions would have on our Tenneco Marzocchi employees, and thank them for their tireless efforts to improve performance and reduce costs. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome continuing market challenges in the two-wheeler business,” said Brian Kesseler, chief operating officer, Tenneco. “We are committed to working with our employees’ representatives, and with our customers to make the transition as smooth as possible.”
This intended action is a part of Tenneco’s ongoing efforts to optimize its Ride Performance business globally while continuously improving its operations and increasing profitability.
Tenneco expected to record charges of approximately $27 million related to these actions in the third quarter which includes approximately $17 million of cash expenditures. These charges consist of severance and other employee related costs, asset impairment charges and other expenses related to the closure. The company anticipates improving financial results by approximately $7 million annually, beginning in 2016.
Good news is that just a few days ago VRM decided to buy Marzocchi and keep it alive, but not without the aid of the Bologna Metropolitan area and the Regional authorities!
The government entities support and understand their industries which have given their region and country so much character – Ducati et al. Can we ever expect this in India? I guess not.
Here is an excerpt from an article on Autoevolution:
The Christmas and year’s end bring joy to the employees of Marzocchi. Around 70 employees will keep their jobs and remain in the city of Zola Predosa, as Italian automotive parts manufacturer VRM bought the company from Tenneco.
We reported on many occasions that Tenneco, the former owner of Marzocchi, would pull the plug on the suspensions company. Last time we checked, in late October, Tenneco was already making the final preparations for the liquidation of Marzocchi, with $27 million (€23.7 mil) as funds to be spent in severance, asset impairment, and other closure procedures.
The suspensions gods have not been sleeping at the end of the year, so they favored VRM in acquiring Marzocchi. VRM expressed their intentions to buy the suspensions manufacturer as of July 2015, but it was only days ago that the deal was finally perfected.
A move under the supervision of the Bologna Metropolitan area and the Regional authorities
One of the best things for Marzocchi is that the Bologna metropolitan area and the Regional authorities are heavily involved in the wellbeing of the local industry. Counselor Benedetto Zacchiroli said that VRM buying Marzocchi was a great example of how the local policies were proven to be fruitful.
The aim of the collaboration between the state and private investors is to make the local business opportunities more attractive, retaining and growing the workforce. Stefano Fiorini, the Mayor of Zola Predosa, was also grateful for the outcome of the deal, happy to see the historical suspensions manufacturer remaining in the city and its employees not being laid off.
As a fun or trivia fact, you should know that Zola Predosa and Marzocchi are only several miles away from Borgo Panigale and Ducati’s headquarters.
No announcements have been made as to what plans VRM has for Marzocchi, but we can expect production to carry on. Even more, we do believe that Marzocchi will grow, especially as VRM has Ducati, MV Agusta, BMW and Ferrari as customers already.
