Fancy yourself the new Ducati Panigale V4? It’s going to cost you a pretty penny if you do, as pricing for the USA and Europe has been revealed, and the 215hp superbike is not going cheaply into that good night.
As such, Ducati lists 2018 pricing for the Panigale V4 as €22,590 in Europe, with pricing in the US set at $21,195 for the base model. For those keeping score, this is a premium of $1,200 over the outgoing Ducati 1299 Panigale.
When you get to the Panigale V4 S though, things start getting considerably more expensive. European pricing on the Ducati Panigale V4 S is set at €27,890, while pricing for the USA will be $27,495.
For the American market, this is a $1,700 bump on pricing when compared to the 2017 Ducati 1299 Panigale.
And how much for the 226hp* Panigale V4 Speciale? Europeans will have to pay €39,900, while Americans will be looking at a $39,995 MSRP – that is quite the sticker price, especially when you consider it is not even the “R” model of the machine, which will arrive for the 2019 model year.
Based on the pricing listed for both markets, Ducati certainly thinks that the allure of its first mass-production V4 superbike is worth the added cost – production started this week, by the way – with all the Panigale V4 trim levels commanding a considerable premium over their comparable competition.
The increased pricing also shows Ducati’s desire to make its flagship model a little bit more exclusive (though we doubt it will affect sales too much), and it creates more space between the Panigale V4 and the Ducati 959 Panigale, which is priced at $15,395 for 2018.
The rise in pricing for the US market could also to be due to Ducati North America not discounting models like it has done in the past.
Because European pricing includes value-added tax (VAT) – which varies by country, but is roughly a 20% to the base price – Ducati models in the US typically sell for a numerically lower value than their European counterparts, despite the dollar’s weakness against the euro.
That still is the case for 2018, but less so, certainly due in part to the euro getting considerably stronger against the dollar since last year’s pricing was set.
With the price increases for 2018, Ducati North America is of course more keen to talk about pricing for its Ducati Premier Financing program, which offers fairly affordable monthly payments, so long as you don’t mind the sizable balloon payment at the end of the term.
We have discussed the pros and cons of this program already, so I won’t go into it too much detail, but the monthly payment and our calculated balloon payment at the end of term (48 months / $2,000 down / +$750 freight / 4.79% interest) is as follows:
- Ducati Panigale V4: $262 / $10,356
- Ducati Panigale V4 S: $349 / $13,404
- Ducati Panigale V4 Speciale: $522 / $19,429
Whether or not this is a good deal likely comes down to your perception of how much the new Panigale V4 will be worth in four year’s time, and whether you believe in the “Motorcycling as a Service” business model that Ducati and BMW are creating with their financing programs.
Source: Ducati
Comments