BMW Motorrad acquires Husqvarna Motorcycles

It’s official: BMW Motorrad has just acquired Husqvarna Motorcycles. By separating from the very old Swedish brand, Claudio Castiglioni intends to refocus on MV Agusta and Cagiva while BMW aims to strengthen itself in the sporting off-road.

"BMW will soon formalize the acquisition of famous motorcycle manufacturer Husqvarna Motorcycles", explains BMW in a statement released today, confirming the rumors that had been circulating for several weeks.

BMW Motorrad CEO Herbert Diess and MV Agusta president – which has owned Husqvarna since the end of 2005 – Italian industrialist Claudio Castiglioni did indeed sign a contract on July 19, 2007 in Italy. This contractual agreement "will enter into force after approval by the European Union antitrust authorities", But "the two parties have agreed that the purchase price will be kept confidential".

For BMW Motorrad – European leader in motorcycles over 500cc with 103,759 units produced and 100,064 delivered last year, the purchase of Husqvarna Motorcycles is "a logical step if one refers to the progression of BMW in the field of light and sport motorcycles, recently reinforced by the new models of the G 650 X series", says Eric de Riedmatten, BMW’s new communications director in France (read).

On the Italian side, through this operation, Claudio Castiglioni (owner of the brands MV Agusta, Cagiva and until today Husqvarna) seeks to refocus on MV Agusta and Cagiva by concentrating its research and development investments on the two brands: "the objective is to increase the presence of MV Agusta and Cagiva on the international market"explains Mr. Castiglioni, who also counts on the support of the financial group Banca Intesa Sanpaolo.

Husqvarna Motorcycles, which produced 12,000 125 to 610 cc motorcycles last year (mostly sporty off-road single cylinders), employed around 240 people in Italy in 2006. Founded in Sweden in 1689, Husqvarana has been producing motorcycles since 1903 and had just extended its distribution agreement in France with SIMA (read).

On the German side, Mr. Diess explains that "thanks to Husqvarna motorcycles present in a sportier market, we will be able to extend the range of BMW Motorrad and target a younger clientele, as well as the whole off-road and supermoto sector, much faster and more efficiently than we would have. made with our first brand". Not to mention that this acquisition offers BMW"direct access to a global sales network in the off-road market", continues the big boss of BMW Motorrad.

According to the wishes of BMW Motorrad, which in 2006 achieved a massive turnover of 1.2 billion euros for a comfortable profit before tax of 66 million euros, the exploitation of the Husqvarna brand will be "as a separate company". Development, sales and production will therefore remain near Varese, in northern Italy,"just like the staff in place", promises the Bavarian manufacturer.

Eric MICHEL

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