MV Agusta failed the restructuring plan. In 2023 global sales collapsed at 1.800, the lowest in this century and KTM Group has now decided to take the company control.
McD tracks new vehicles registrations across the World (over 80 countries), reporting data on calendar year. When you wish to compare data reported by us to those declared by the manufacturers, consider they usually report their “sales” (vehicles invoiced), which are usually different from “registrations”, accordingly with their fiscal year split.
KTM takes the control
At the end, when the production was really near to be stopped, KTM moved ahead and acquired the 50.1% of the company. THis is the KTM Group Communication:
“In November 2022, KTM AG, a subsidiary of PIERER Mobility AG, acquired 25.1% of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A., based in Varese (Italy), as part of a capital increase. As part of this cooperation, KTM AG took over the supply chain and purchasing of MV Agusta in October 2023. In addition, MV Agusta’s product range is also distributed in part via PIERER Mobility’s global sales network. The call option granted to KTM AG on the basis of the annual financial statements as of December 31, 2025 to acquire a majority stake in MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. will now be exercised prematurely. The purchase price for the remaining 25% of the shares was calculated in accordance with the previously agreed valuation method (EBITDA multiple). This means that KTM AG will take over the majority and also the industrial management of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. In the medium term, an annual production volume of more than 10,000 MV Agusta premium motorcycles is planned at the site in Varese.”
The company was acquired by a Russian family in 2019 with ambitious restructuring plans. They arrived when global sales were at the lowest in 20 years with just 2.478 sales achieved in 2018. However, they declared to the banks and the press to be able revamping the manufacturer aiming to hit the 10K sales in 2/3 years.
The spread of the pandemic clearly impacted their timing, but sales have been disappointing in 2020, in 2021 and even in 2022.
Sales in 2022 exceeded marginally the 3.000, at over the half of the best performance in the last decade (6.2K in 2015) and the owner was forced to search a new partner, as first step before to quit the company.
Indeed, in November 2023, KTM Group acquired the 25% of MV Agusta taking under direct control the two most strategic areas, the Purchase and the Distribution. Only fiscal and financial reasons have diluted the full purchase process.
At the end of 2023, the company presented a new production line, able to release 1.000 units per day. A communication sounding surreal, looking at the 2023 results.
Indeed, in 2023 MV Agusta was able to deliver globally only 1.823 sales falling 42.5% at a new negative record.
Brand Heritage
MV Agusta Motor S.p.A, was founded by Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of the Agusta aircraft company near Milan, Italy.
The reason to produce and sell motorcycles was almost exclusively to fund the owners passion for racing. They were determined to have the best Grand Prix motorcycle racing team in the world and spared no expense on their passion. MV Agusta produced their first prototype, called “98”, in 1945. and in 1948, the company built a 125cc two-stroke single to participate in the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. They immediately won starting the legend.
MV Agusta went on to dominate Grand Prix racing, winning 17 consecutive 500cc world championships. Count Agusta’s competitive nature drove him to hire some of the best riders of the time, including Carlo Ubbiali, John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read, and the best engineers, in particular Arturo Magni. The three- and four-cylinder race bikes were known for their excellent road handling. The fire-engine red racing machines became a hallmark of Grand Prix racing in the 1960s and early 1970s.
With the death of Count Domenico Agusta in 1971, the company lost its guiding force. The company won their last Grand Prix in 1976 and by the end of the season they were out of racing. The company’s precarious economic position forced MV Agusta to seek out a new financial partner. A solution was found in the form of public financing giant EFIM, which demanded that MV Agusta exit the motorcycle industry if were to have any chance of straightening its finances. However, they continued to sell bikes until 1980, when the last machine in the Cascina Costa warehouses was brought up.
Cagiva Group (Castiglioni family) purchased the MV Agusta name trademarks in 1991, but only in 1997 it introduced the first new MV Agusta motorcycle, when the group was selling Ducati to an American fund. However, they struggled for revamping the company despite been able to find several financial partners, like Proton (2001), Harley-Davidson (2009), Mercedes (2014) and finally an investment fund, the Black Ocean Group (2016).
The last owner is a Russian family, which took the control in the 2019 and nowadays the company is under the leadership of Timur Sardarov, which built a new management team and is providing a huge effort to pull back the company in a financial stability, with ambitious plans for the future.
Despite financial troubles, in the last twenty years MV Agusta produced high stylish italian motorcycles and the current line up consists in the high supersport families of Brutale, Dragster, Turismo Veloce, F3, Rush and Superveloce.
