Volkswagen is considering a sale of Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati as part of a broader review of its business portfolio, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Ducati, which is part of Volkswagen’s Audi group, is among 600 businesses being assessed from the German carmaker’s 2,000 operations.
"Within the Volkswagen Group, we are committed to a disciplined, responsible portfolio management. It is part of the evaluation process that we will also talk about Ducati, but nothing has been decided”, Döllner was quoted as saying.
Audi acquired Ducati in 2012 in a deal supported by the late Porsche-Piëch patriarch Ferdinand Piëch, who later sat on Ducati’s board.
Volkswagen also reviewed a potential sale of the 100-year-old manufacturer in 2017, but that process ended after opposition from German labour representatives.
Last year, Ducati sold about 50,000 units and recorded revenue of €925m ($1.07bn) and operating profit of €52m.
Those margins are below the 9% target set by Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume for the group by 2030.
The review is taking place as Audi moves ahead with what it described as a more differentiated regional product strategy.
The company has launched the A2 e-tron, an all-electric compact model aimed at the compact segment that the German carmaker described as the “most efficient model” it has built.
Audi is also working to cut complexity by reducing the number of engine types, body styles and other variants in its line-up.
Döllner said Audi is still assessing options for producing vehicles in the US, including possible use of capacity at an existing Volkswagen factory or at Scout Motors’ new plant.
Audi currently does not make vehicles in the US, leaving it more exposed to tariffs than BMW and Mercedes-Benz Group.
The possible Ducati sale forms part of a wider restructuring effort at Volkswagen.
Earlier this month, the group’s supervisory board approved Future Plan 2030, under which a further 50,000 positions will be cut across the group.
That follows an earlier announcement this year of 50,000 job cuts, taking the total number of planned reductions at Volkswagen Group by the end of the decade to 100,000.
In June, Volkswagen agreed to sell a 51% stake in its Everllence ship-engine unit, a deal expected to generate approximately €7.4bn.
