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#1 ·
MV Agusta: Giovanni Castiglioni esce di scena Una storia si chiude e si apre il ciclo russo | Heavy rider
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MV Agusta: Giovanni Castiglioni leaves the stage A story closes and the Russian cycle opens
OCTOBER 3, 2019 | by Antonio Morra

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Giovanni Castiglioni: final exit from MV AgustaGiovanni Castiglioni: final exit from MV Agusta
The days that proceed or follow Eicma, the world's most important motorcycle show, always bring some change in the two-wheeler sector. The first of this year is the end of the Castiglioni era in MV Agusta. The formal farewell is contained in a line of the release in which the historic Italian company announces its five-year industrial plan.

Giovanni Castiglioni (left) and Timor Sardarov in the factoryGiovanni Castiglioni (left) and Timur Sardarov in the factory
" After the entry of Timur Sardarov into the company as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, which took place in December 2018 - reads the statement - Massimo Bordi and Paolo Bettin integrate the top management of MV Agusta. Massimo Bordi, engineer, designer and manager highly regarded in the sector, assumes the position of Executive Vice President. Paolo Bettin, thanks to his solid experience in financial restructuring in various industrial companies, has already assumed the role of CFO, while Giovanni Castiglioni will maintain an advisory role ".

From left: Giovanni and Caludio CastiglioniFrom left: Giovanni and Claudio Castiglioni
Castiglioni's position had been impoverished in MV and the announcement is there. The son of the legendary Claudio (the greatest and most visionary entrepreneur in the motorcycle sector of the modern era) had carved a presence in MV as honorary president and member of the board. Now with the new capital increase the formalization of the exit. Perhaps definitive, unless a new miracle happens. Purchased in 1992 by Claudio Castiglioni and relaunched in 1997 with the production of the legendary F4, the company experienced decades of difficulty passing into the hands of Proton and Harley, before returning to Claudio's hands a year before his death. After the unfortunate entry into Mercedes' share capital, which lasted almost three years, in 2017 the company moved more and more firmly into the hands of Timur Sardarov, an oil entrepreneur.

Naturally the capital necessary to finance the implementation of the plan announced yesterday, as well as to guarantee the consolidation and growth of the company, will be entirely allocated by the Sardarov family, a shareholder of MV Agusta. On the amount for now there are no rumors.

The change at the top is also significant. The Vice President Massimo Bordi, born in 1948, is an internationally renowned engineer and manager who had already joined Giovanni Castiglioni during the revival of MV Agusta between 2010 and 2013. His fame is linked to the activity of designer for Ducati, for which developed the Ducati Desmoquattro engine together with Pierluigi Mengoli. Paolo Bettin, the new CFO, has gained experience in PWC, Deroma, Carraro and Maschio Gaspardo by sharing the relaunch plan with Massimo Bordi himself.

The press release also reveals the arrival of MV bikes: "The business plan aims to achieve sales of over 25,000 motorbikes in five years , investing in both a new premium range and a mid-size one, with "goal of increasing brand penetration to new customers and significantly increasing sales volumes".

In the three-year period 2019-2021 the industrial plan also provides for a strong investment in the global distribution network, with particular attention to Europe, Asia and the United States.

The Brutale 1000 Serie Oro, the new "Hyper-naked" model voted as the "most beautiful bike in the show" at Eicma 2018The Brutale 1000 Serie Oro, the new "Hyper-naked" model voted as the "most beautiful bike in the show" at Eicma 2018
Meanwhile, MV Agusta is starting the production of the Brutale 1000 Serie Oro, the new "Hyper-naked" model voted as the "most beautiful motorcycle in the saloon" at Eicma 2018, and of the Superveloce 800 Serie Oro. Both models will be produced in only 300 copies, all already sold online in a few days and with delivery to customers expected in the coming months.

"Over the next five years - commented Timur Sardarov - MV Agusta will focus its attention on the development of the sales and service network, while investing in product development, digitalisation and technological innovation. Our goal is to make the best products in the segments in which we are present. MV Agusta now has all the tools to do it. "
 
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#7 ·
Awesome. Wish Giovanni was forced out when Mercedes looked to buy out the company. Would've been wonderful to have the full backing of a giant German conglomerate. Ducati no doubt has benefited tremendously since Audi's acquisition.

Regardless, I'm hoping these guys run the company better than Giovani. No doubt MV makes incredible bikes, but the ownership of them is far too difficult to have it as your only bike.
 
#9 ·
As of October 1, 2019, Timur Sardarov and his brother Ratmir Sardarov are in control of 100 percent of MV Agusta's capital, with Giovanni Castiglioni orbiting outside the company, having been assigned a consulting position.
Well that's a relief, I was worried that Johnny would no longer be able to afford a new Patek Philippe watch every month.

Bordi coming back is good news, though I'm a bit worried about the Chinese involvment, hopefully only with the new twin range.
 
#12 ·
Well that's a relief, I was worried that Johnny would no longer be able to afford a new Patek Philippe watch every month.



Bordi coming back is good news, though I'm a bit worried about the Chinese involvment, hopefully only with the new twin range.
It is, MV will make a mint with only initial design investment. They will be manufactured in China and MV will get their cut on the sales

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
#13 ·
oh man this suxs to read im not happy at all
obviously i dont know the ins and outs of the business but why did he have to be pushed out
i thought the guy was fabulous in more ways than one, but hey i dont know him

im not sure if this is good news at all to be honest
maybe someone can clarify it for me
 
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#14 ·
I'm with you in not understanding the hate on Castiglioni. With Ducati being German owned, the Chinese scooping up Benelli, Bimota going Japanese (this one is actually pretty cool as Kawasaki are pretty hot blooded and Bimota have big history with the Japanese), Aprilia/Guzzi just sold out when they went to Piaggio (the bikes totally lack the character and charm that they once had and everything that made Aprilia stand out) and now MV going 100% Russian, it was like the last standing beautiful Italian motorcycle love story shaped by the most influential Italians in the motorcycle world.

I'm saddened by the news and yet the Castiglioni way has always been to keep a fall back strategy in Cagiva and CRC. I note CRC was recently and quietly renamed Castiglioni Research Centre rather than Cagiva Research Centre which puzzled me and annoyed me for no other reason than it was always that, why rename it when it has so much history, vanity, or something more? Did Timur and co buy the rights to Cagiva also, is this why CRC was renamed? Who knows...

I don't know anything about the new owners, at least it will be well funded, I wish them well, I mean, what a brand to buy if you can afford it, it's sad to see ownership go out of Italy and out of Italian control, (I hope they keep production, design and R&D there), as it is for any established brand, like Bentley going German and Jaguar going Indian that's all.

I doubt we've seen the last of Castiglioni.
 
#15 ·
The only worry I have is the new Russian owner with all his wealth could get bored and move on, with all his millions (billions?) in tow....lets keep our fingers crossed that all will be well and wish them all the best for the future, its the way of the world now.
 
#30 ·
I believe the strategy for Sardarov will be "pump and dump". At first I thought Sardarov bought into MV in order to have another conversation piece for his buddies but now I do think the move was much more clever. He may have realized that Castiglioni will not do much for MV so Sardarov has made him an offer that was hard to refuse.

The next step for Sardarov is to stabilize the brand and try to position it at the very top market level. The Oro and the upcoming F4 should get him there, especially since most of the new models are very limited production. Thus MV becomes a top tier boutique brand. The final step is to find a Chinese or possibly an Indian buyer and unload the brand at a hefty profit. There are very few if any premium motorcycle brands left in the world that aren't already part of the conglomerate groups and when Sardarov will offer MV up for grabs, there will be fewer left still.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Not the best news I read today but producing and selling a midrange product is a good idea to keep income in line with expenses. Most auto manufacturers do it and there's a good chance it will work for MV. Meanwhile, if the new Brutal Oro is any indication, the new F4 should be another work of art!
 
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#19 ·
I hope he doesn't want to mess with designing the next lot of MV's, I have never seen anything automotive designed by Russians to date that I would put in the same class as MV. M2c.
 
#20 ·
I have my worries about one or the other decision that Sardarov took so far, but I am actually glad that the company has successfully overcome the Castiglioni jr. era. And as written above: If SV800 and B4 are taken as the first indicators, there are also things that definitely go into the right direction.

Castiglioni had it all in his hands and made very little out of it. The fact that Daimler through AMG invested in MV Agusta could have been the ticket into stable financials and the access to all kinds of technology as well as a sales & logistics network. And this chance was not the clever efforts of GC, but just the fact that Audi purchased Ducati when they had just agreed to cooperate with AMG. In anxiety that both Audi and BMW now had big two wheel names under their umbrella, they went for MVA. One may like Audi or not, but they put Lamborghini back on track, and so did they with Ducati. The red's 48 hour spare part guarantee is only possible through the logistics know how of their parent company.

What did MV Agusta do under regency of GC? He clouded the company's real financial situation by misusing employees' tax deductibles to pay suppliers while still paying 500.000€ to himself for his outstanding performance as CEO. Some personal tax issues did the rest for AMG to simply sit it out and wait for the first buyer to take over. Now MV Agusta has fresh capital, but the access to the tech and network of Daimler is gone, so MV has to shoulder it all by themselves, while their competition in the Italian premium segment can all leverage their owners' power in many ways (Audi, Kawa, Piaggio).
 
#21 ·
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I´m agree in everything.

I´m sad because I dont want to see a chinese MV, It is like prostitute the brand and MV heritage. Im bored to see chinese/taiwanese BMW´s who manufaturing Loncin and Kymco, Taiwanese Kawasaki (J125/J300) who manufacturin Kymco, and other sad examples. I Prefere the way who took Ducati or KTM.

We will see, if sell chinese MV´s helps to keep running the factory and we can keep running our bikes, and maybe they sell some "top grade" examples of bikes to be proud of own, maybe there will be good news, but I not sure.
 
#23 ·
From what I read, the 25,000 target is over the course of this 5 year plan which is 5,000 units per year and completely within reach since they sell ~2,500 units per year already. Essentially, doubling their production numbers.

They partnered with Loncin and lending its design prowess and knowledge in exchange for Loncin's manufacturing capabilities for the midrange bikes. Basically, making a deal with the devil.

https://www.visordown.com/news/industry/mv-agusta-confirms-four-new-smaller-bikes-loncin-tie
 
#24 ·
The only constant is change. I have hope for a quality Houston, TX dealer given this is the 4th largest city in USA.

Financial strength is extremely important. More important is quality leadership, management, vision and execution.

The motorcycle market is incredibly competitive, yet MV does have a unique brand.
 
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#27 ·
@PTsalas: I agree that one goal should be to keep the design and development people busy at MVA. However, when it comes to the engineering part, I see a couple of tasks that should be given priority over doing design and development jobs for the Chinese.

Of course, the Loncin job will create revenue, while updating the three cylinder range creates cost and deferred revenue when the products are on the market. But there are some things that just cannot be prolonged any more. The fact that MV Agusta was one of the first to integrate IMU into their bikes and now they do not even have cornering ABS on their 2020 new models. That needs to be fixed.

But Euro 5 is just around the corner and MV should not again try to rely on being given an exemption waiver for exotics as they did with Euro 4. The authorities so far stated that only small series of up to 75 units will be given such.
 
#28 ·
Correct me if I'm wrong, it is CRC doing design work for Loncin and not the engine or electronics departments of MV Agusta. Regardless, pretty sure it is the accountants that have hindered cornering ABS being implemented and not the guy designing the fairings on the Chinese bikes. Similarly to why the F3 still has a halogen headlight and archaic dash.
 
#29 ·
Fair point, if it is the design folks who will be busy with Loncin, whereas the engineers focus their capacity on MV Agusta, then it makes sense.

On the accountant's influence: To some extent , yes. But overall there are some signs that they have trouble keeping up their self-dictated development speed. The cornering ABS on the new B4 Brutale was not ready on the first magazine tests. The concept of the supercharged F3 has not been seen so far, even though promised for summer. Maybe they will show it at EICMA. I am not blaming them, the schedule is extremely ambitious.

But some decisions can hardly be reasoned with procurement cost considerations: LED lights today are hardly more expensive than halogen, you just need to assign a supplier to build them in form you need them. On TFT screens it is even easier as most it is a quadric screen, which just needs a simple plastic casing. The work would be to program a nice graphical user interface. Especially when it comes to the F3, the Japanese and Triumph have shown the path for the middleclass sportsbikes. Neither the R6, the Daytona 765 nor the ZX-6R are really new bikes. They either updated the surface or put a new engine in the existing chassis. The time of radical new middleweight designs is over as these machines sell miserable. And this would IMO be the immediate task for MV as well. Get the 930cc EURO 5 engine ready and put it in the existing chassis with some tweaks to the supply parts (new gen Brembo, Bosch 9.1MP, LED and dash).
 
#34 ·
That would be very sad if that were the case. It’s a shame the Polaris deal didn’t come off either, they’ve done a great job with Indian and did a great job with the Victory brand for a while.
 
#35 ·
Can someone explain why getting AMG out of the picture was considered a good idea by some? I can see why Castiglioni would want the germans gone as they kept him in deep check but if it was me in Castiglione's place I would be willing to sacrifice a lot to keep the brand my father resurrected and was in love with...


+1
 
#36 ·
Castiglioni had no options for taking actions any more. AMG was the 25 % shareholder and wanted to get out due to the mess created by GC. A buy back by GC was obviously not possible, so he was likely no longer in the driver’s seat when it came to selecting who was to buy the 25%. Even if he had a contract with AMG that allowed him to decide on buyers there would likely have been limits, especially for a situation when the value of the company is constantly decreasing due to critical financials.

After Black Ocean was in, it was clear that the current funding was not sufficient to get the company back on track. Then the second investment came and the before minority shareholder became 50% partner, whereas Castiglioni was totally dependent on Sardarov’s willingness to invest further. The third capital injection by the Sardarov family did the rest to clear the new hierarchy.

I would never doubt GC has a passion for the business, but owning and running a business comes with a responsibility. And in times of economic difficulties he lived on as if the company was totally save. In such a situation you should consult with your investors and banks instead of your tattoo artist. Would he have been honest with AMG, the situation could have been solved in 2016 right away, as the amounts of money needed are peanuts for Daimler.
 
#37 ·
I'm not sure AMG was the best fit, personally Polaris would have been the best imho. AMG while producing great cars, have a large but largely atrocious dealer network with ludicrous pricing and who wants to buy an m/c from a car salesman/showroom. It's a different dynamic. I have an AMG and as much as I like the car, the ownership experience even going to Mercedes Benz World (their own dealer) is a huge rip off which detracts from the ownership experience.

They rely on the cars being so good, if ever there is a problem you can forget about getting things sorted easily. There have been some awful stories on AMG forums with owners even still in warranty struggling to get work done. If that is for cars, imagine how much attention they'll pay to a motorcycle sideline in the showroom.
 
#38 ·
I'm not sure AMG was the best fit, personally Polaris would have been the best imho. AMG while producing great cars, have a large but largely atrocious dealer network with ludicrous pricing and who wants to buy an m/c from a car salesman/showroom. It's a different dynamic.
While I can agree that Polaris might have been a better choice, its safe to say that MV would not be sold off the same floor as AMG cars. Ducati is a stand alone brand in terms of retail/service dealer network. Integrating MV into MB dealer network would be a very costly proposition, it wouldn't really make any sense from financial or marketing standpoint.
 
#39 ·
The charm of a big player in the background is nit so much the usage of the same shop floors, but leveraging of common procurement solutions for the dealers, inventory management and warehouses that a company like Daimler has already established around the world.

The next step without any compromising of the MV brand’s uniqueness would be an integration in the procurement processes. If Daimler negotiates with Bosch on the supply of ABS equipment, they achieve other conditions than a company asking for not even 10.000 units per year,

Polaris would also have been a good option. I wish the current owner all the success, but over the long run MV Agusta either has to be integrated in a major player corporation or enter alliances with such companies.

But with electric mobility coming up, there might be new potential investors that have the battery technology, but not the name to create a full bike. Not really where I would like to see any bike company going, but with the current eco-fundamentalism going on, everything seems possible...
 
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