Volkswagen weighs Ducati sale as part of portfolio overhaul, report says

Volkswagen AG is considering a sale of Italian motorcycle brand Ducati as part of a comprehensive review of its business portfolio, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing an interview with Audi chief executive Gernot Döllner.

Ducati, headquartered in Bologna and known for high-performance models such as the Panigale, is among 600 businesses out of Volkswagen’s roughly 2,000 currently being evaluated, according to Bloomberg. The brand sits within VW’s Audi group, which acquired the motorcycle maker in 2012.

“It’s part of the evaluation process that we’ll also talk about Ducati, but nothing has been decided,” Döllner told Bloomberg. The brand could fetch around €1.25 billion based on peer valuations, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Dean estimated, the report said.

The potential divestment forms part of a broader effort by Europe’s largest automaker to reduce its sprawling portfolio. VW’s supervisory board last week approved a restructuring plan calling for its holdings to be trimmed by roughly a third.

Ducati would not be an easy cut. The brand has won six consecutive MotoGP constructors’ championships since 2020 and enjoys strong loyalty among its customers, who are known as “Ducatisti.” The company also carries personal significance for VW’s controlling Porsche-Piëch family, with the late patriarch Ferdinand Piëch having personally championed the original acquisition, the report said.

Ducati’s operating margin currently trails the 9% target that VW CEO Oliver Blume has set for the broader group by 2030. The brand sells around 50,000 units annually and generated €925 million in revenue and €52 million in operating profit last year.

Volkswagen previously explored selling Ducati in 2017, but later abandoned the attempt amid opposition from German labor representatives.

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