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Dang...Aprillia is going ti*s-up

:eek:

I thought that Aprilia had to get their financials in a row before they bought Guzzi a few years ago, hard to believe they could get in this much trouble in such a short time
 
:tab I cannot believe Buck000 hasn't posted about this yet!? It would really suck if they have to close up shop. They make such sweet bikes. But geez, it's not like they don't charge enough for their bikes?? So what gives? Crappy sales figures? Crappy management? All the above? Thank God Colin got away from them before this happened mid season and left him high and dry without a ride!!

Adios,
 
The only thing that kept me from buying the Tuono last year was the lack of a larger dealer network. It was going to be pricey and insurance was going to blow, but what a sweet looking bike! The Falco was another I have recently given serious consideration to as well as the Caponord as I have gravitated to the 1150 GS. If it goes under, what a shame.....They make great bikes.
 
Aprilia makes most of their money from scooters and apparently the scooter market, in Europe particularly, has been in the dumps choking of their cash cow. From what I understand they have stopped scooter production but the motorcycle plant is still in operation.

A number of companies appear to be interested in "helping them out" read that buying them out including BMW and Bombardier. Aprilia and BMW had a partnership arrangement and Aprilia built the F650 (CS, I believe) for BMW for a while. Bombardier owns Rotax and has a vested interest in seeing Aprilia stay afloat as they sell them engines. I have even heard a rumour that the investment group that controls Ducati (which is headquartered in Dallas by the way ;-) ) may be interested. Even Harley has been rumored to be interested :eek: :shock: .

The fly in these ointments is the Italian government who would prefer to see ownership of the company remain in Italy. This preference has resulted in longer term problems for some companies since the Italian suiters are not alway the best financed or have the most solid business plan/leadership.
 
sbaker33 said:
Aprilia makes most of their money from scooters and apparently the scooter market, in Europe particularly, has been in the dumps choking of their cash cow. From what I understand they have stopped scooter production but the motorcycle plant is still in operation.

A number of companies appear to be interested in "helping them out" read that buying them out including BMW and Bombardier. Aprilia and BMW had a partnership arrangement and Aprilia built the F650 (CS, I believe) for BMW for a while. Bombardier owns Rotax and has a vested interest in seeing Aprilia stay afloat as they sell them engines. I have even heard a rumour that the investment group that controls Ducati (which is headquartered in Dallas by the way ;-) ) may be interested. Even Harley has been rumored to be interested :eek: :shock: .

The fly in these ointments is the Italian government who would prefer to see ownership of the company remain in Italy. This preference has resulted in longer term problems for some companies since the Italian suiters are not alway the best financed or have the most solid business plan/leadership.

Keep in mind that the Italians allowed a Texas company to come in and buy most of Ducati about a 8-10 years ago and see what that has done for them. Might be just what Aprilia needs is an outside investor with a more objective view on the market.
 
I have read that the thing that killed their scooter business was the new helmet law in Italy.

Not sure how true that story is, but I would still buy a Futura if I had the funds. It seems that Italian companies are always on the verge of going under, maybe it has to do with their business culture over there. Look at how long Maserati languished under different owners before Ferrari finally took them over. After all, Ferrari was bailed out by Fiat long ago, I think they are in pretty good shape now.
 
Sorry, I was out riding. ;-)

bluedog nailed it, imho... Here's some more info, via the Futura mailing list:

>From the RSVR.net web site posted today....

Brand New Update - from Giuseppe Tranchina - MD Aprilia UK - a letter has been communicated to all dealers stating that there will be a lengthy two page article in tomorrow's edition of MCN concerning the aprilia financial situation - whilst many of the facts mentioned are substantially true there are_ speculative questions which are inaccurate and unhelpful - the most critical point_- _'that the company is close to bankruptcy and has ceased production' is simply untrue.


There are substantive negotiations ongoing in Noale with potential partners, many of which are common knowledge, however aprilia are not in a
position to provide either comment or information regarding these as this would be a breach of confidentiality and a lack of integrity as far
as the parties involved are concerned.


With respect to production .. the lines at Noale are still producing machines at he time of this message and currently at this moment there are 153 RSV-R and 125 RSV Factory machines being prepared for trans shipment to the UK. The machines are now available in Scorze.


MCN have decided to publish all of the information they have gleaned from the Italian newspaper article without seeking confirmation or comment from aprilia - aprilia have assured all their dealers in the UK, that as matters develop they will of course keep their customer base fully informed .


In other words 'don't believe everything you read in the newspapers'.

PAB - RSVR.net


I think that Ivano Beggio, the owner and, iirc, son of the founder, is more moto-nut than businessman... :-)

I guess I'll just have to make sure nothing breaks on my 'priller...!
 
TPG still owns 33% of Ducati, and is the largest single shareholder. Their ROI has been excellent on the investment since '96.

Given their reputation, it's not out of line for them to be sniffing around Aprilia...

Daryl
 
This was sent around the futura mailing list. I wonder how good a mix Austrian MGMT and Italian employees will be? ;-)

Picked up from the ZX12R list where this hit the forum:

----------------
Not to worry guys:

rumour is circulating in the trade that aprilia is in recivership - it is not - if you telephone either aprilia UK or aprilia Italy you will speak to
someone - what has happened is that the scooter division has effectively gone into temporary suspension - this is a scenario common Italy where
a company in financial negotiation can close down all or part of it's operation for a limited period during which the government pay 80% of the
employees' wages. The sccoter division is the primary cause for aprilia's problems and it is a logical step to take advantage of this facility whilst
negotiating a sale of shares.

The motorcycle aspect of aprilia is fully functioning as always and this includes spare parts. It is no secret that ROTAX Bombardier (the Austrian
company who builds aprilia engines) is at the final stages of a due dilligence exercise prior to putting in a bid to purchase aprilia spa or at least to become the principal shareholder. It is also a well know fact that Ducati are most likely to purchase Moto Guzzi from aprilia.

In the meantime it's business as usual and as someone else pointed out this whole scenario is a fairly normal and regular occurence in the Italian
Corporate world.
 
The News from Italy

As an Italian pls let me just say this in order to shed some light

A. Italian companies go through this kind of a thing all the time w/out closing their doors. That's why you have companies that have been in business since the Caesars. ;-) ;-)

B. Do not believe the Italian Press. Having a lot more freedom to say what ever it wants than in the United States they will and can end up stretching the truth quite a bit, but it is up to the Savvy reader to discern if what they are reading is true. Unfortunately this happens b/c of the amount of newspapers that are available in Italy and b/c of the different political factions that now control them.

Vittorio
 
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