Some good news from Italy, as MV Agusta is reporting a sales boost so far this year for the Varese brand, with January and February up 100% over the same time period in 2012. “The new year has started well for us regardless of the negative global market trend,” said MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni.
“We are very satisfied with our results to date. I’m convinced that they will tend to grow even further thanks to the arrival of the new RIVALE 800, for which we’ve already received many orders. We have good reason to look forward to 2013 with optimism.”
We are more than sure that the doubling in sales has something to do with the previously low volume numbers for the brand, and the nearly 50% increase in the number of models MV Agusta is now offering motorcyclists, three of which are “low price” models: the MV Agusta F3 675, MV Agusta Brutale 675, and MV Agusta Brutale 800.
With MV Agusta making gains in certain segments of the Italian motorcycle market, and elsewhere in Europe as well, it will be interesting to see if the trend is sustained over the coming months and next model years, or if this is a one-time boost for the Italian company.
Many will remember that MV Agusta was given new life by Harley-Davidson in 2008, but then saw the iconic brand sold back to the control of the Castiglioni family a year later for €1.
Since Claudio Castiglioni’s death in 2011, his son Giovanni has been at the helm of the motorcycle company, and has continued the company’s plan to introduce more affordable models that would help boost MV Agusta’s output volume, something vital for the company’s long-term profitability.
Adding 675cc & 800cc three-cylinder machines to the company’s previously all inline-four lineup has been met with positive responses by brand enthusiasts, even though MV Agusta has had considerable difficulty putting the machines like the MV Agusta F3 675 in the hands of owners on its previously promised timeline…and there was that whole fuel-mapping fiasco at the F3’s international press launch.
Clearly there are growing pains for the previously boutique motorcycle brand, and we learn today that the MV Agusta Rivale 800 will not arrive until the second-half of 2013 (nearly a year after its public debut at the 2012 EICMA motorcycle show). Still, the company seems to be making forward progress, and hopefully it will reach the goal line.
Source: MV Agusta
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