In the recent past speculations have been increasing on who will buy Ducati? The Italian manufacturer is worth approx. 1.5 billion euros ($1.67 billion) and currently owned by Audi, a division of German carmaker Volkswagen. Who have been looking to divest from non-core businesses after the dieselgate incident.

Earlier, Indian motorcycle manufacturers Hero MotoCorp & Royal Enfield had shown interest in the sale of the Italian motorcycle manufacturer. But that didn't work out due to the high price tag. We had covered this earlier: Royal Enfield to purchase Ducati? & Volkswagen plans to sell Ducati.

And now, US motorcycle manufacturer - Harley-Davidson is in the line to bid for Ducati sale. Many other companies are also getting ready for the bids includes Bajaj, but according to the source, Volkswagen will wait till the annual EICMA motorcycle show in Milan in mid-November to finalize and find the right buyer.

Also, according to the source, Volkswagen's labor unions which have half the seats are opposing the sale of Ducati.VW group's works council said, "Ducati is a jewel, the sale of which is not supported by the labor representatives on Volkswagen's supervisory board. Harley-Davidson is miles behind Ducati in technology terms."

We will wait and watch to see who will buy Ducati? We hope that the new owners will only build the iconic brand and take it from strength to strength.

Earlier Harley-Davidson had bought another Italian marque, MV Agusta in 2008 and in 2010 announced that it would divest its interest in MV Agusta and sold it to Claudio Castiglioni.



Source: reuters.com