[cycleworld.com] - MV Agusta Under Control of Pierer Mobility

[Ninjette Newsbot]

With MV Agusta’s majority stake secured by Pierer Mobility, has the time come for MV to achieve sales success? Managing director Dr. Luca Martin thinks so.

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Luca Martin, Hubert Trunkenpolz, Filippo Bassoli. (MV Agusta/)On March 22, 2024, Pierer Mobility took formal and full control of MV Agusta when new leadership was officially announced and moved into office. Now MV Agusta’s CEO and chairman is Hubert Trunkenpolz, member of the executive board of Pierer Mobility AG. Trunkenpolz is a member of the Austrian family that originally gave life to the KTM Motor make—the “T” in KTM

Dr. Luca Martin takes the role of deputy CEO and managing director. Filippo Bassoli has been appointed chief marketing officer and managing director. Former MV Agusta CEO Timur Sardarov remains in the company as vice-chairman, brand ambassador, and consultant. Sardarov will maintain joint control and a 49.9 percent stake in the company.

In his passionate farewell message as CEO, Sardarov underlined the successful completion of a five-year plan to revitalize the company and start a progression that now, under the guidance of the Pierer Mobility Group, will finally produce a profit after decades of losses.

Sardarov said: “MV Agusta embodies passion and a unique sense of romance that captivated me from day one. As I continue to serve as a dedicated vice-chairman, I am committed to supporting the company and its ongoing success.”

No doubt that the acquisition of MV Agusta by KTM will shake up the European motorcycle industry—from many points of view the two are going to create a most complementary team. On one side, the Italian finesse and search for supreme performance but mastered for too long by a very naïve management. On the other, the rigorous strategy of the most successful and most rationally managed brand—one that has not missed one beat for years, becoming a top European motorcycle manufacturer in output and profit.

MV Agusta is the one of the most legendary names in motorcycling; no other make conquered a similar number of GP championships, and this gives it a sort of magnetic power. Yet its position on the market has been evanescent for too long, even when its models became extremely attractive.


Count Domenico Agusta (center) died in 1971. (MV Agusta/)The essence of the story is, somehow, MV Agusta happened to primarily be a love affair for each owner who stepped on the floor. Its founder, aviation industry tycoon Count Domenico Agusta, loved motorcycle races and invested enormous amounts of money in MV Agusta Racing Department to make it the dominating team in the sport for years, while production models never were supported by an adequate marketing strategy and sales organization. There was no connection of any kind between those world-conquering racers and production models. And even when MV Agusta was resurrected by Claudio Castiglioni, his focus was on the image of the myth, but no management strategy was ever launched because in his enthusiasm Claudio thought that the return of the brand would automatically generate a massive success on the market.

Castiglioni’s enthusiasm even messed up the project of the first new MV Agusta model: the immensely elegant F4 750 designed by Maestro Massimo Tamburini. While breathtakingly beautiful, the bike was plagued by grave mechanical flaws due to the cheap (yet very expensive for MV Agusta) project for which Claudio had contracted no less than Ferrari, because it sounded logical to associate that legendary automotive name to the return of MV Agusta in the domain of superbikes. It took years to solve the problems and sales went down the drain.


The last F4 was produced in 2018. (Courtesy of MV Agusta/)So while Pierer Mobility forged its superstrong position on the market by its rigorous management strategies, MV Agusta remained a blatant contradiction. While being celebrated for its superb collection of GP achievements and for the creation of absolute icons of refined Italian design, like the glorious 750 Sport and the 750/1000 F4, it never grew to the status of a real company. It remained an overgrown artisan shop, run with great love, passion, and pride, but with amateur business policy that led it to the limit of bankruptcy.

MV Agusta was in the sights of Mr. Stefan Pierer from around 2015 and the final transaction was consolidated in 2022. In November 2022 Pierer Mobility acquired 25.1 percent of the MV Agusta stock. On November 15, 2022, Pierer Mobility appointed Dr. Martin member of the board of MV Agusta, but in reality put him at the helm of the company. Martin is an Italian-born, 42-year-old certified mechanical engineer who accumulated a very strong experience in his 16 years of professional career with some of the most relevant makes in the domain, including BMW and Ducati. He was hired by Pierer Mobility six years ago to take over the managing role in the KTM factory in the Philippines. His solid experience, engineering competence, and rationality allowed him to conquer positions of high responsibility, and now Pierer assigned him the mission of turning MV Agusta into a superefficient and productive top-class brand.

At Pierer Mobility it was well known that MV Agusta had been sailing wobbling routes consequent to obvious lack of well-focused policies. On the other hand, what Dr. Martin rapidly acknowledged was that inside of MV Agusta there is pride and great dedication to support the personality of the brand and its winning tradition. That represented a potentially strong asset to work on.

The determination of every single member of MV Agusta to constantly try to improve the quality level of “their” production bikes, from the R&D stage to the final execution on the assembly line, was obvious. This is one of the factors that was considered a priority that needed to be further strengthened to create a solid foundation in which to duplicate the highly professional Pierer Mobility business managerial structure and related strategy at MV Agusta.


Timur Sardarov (right) retains 49.9 percent stake in MV Agusta. (MV Agusta/)The MV Agusta workers were given full and final assurance that the rumors circulating about Pierer Mobility planning to relocate MV Agusta are false; MV Agusta will stay where it is now, a few miles from where it was founded by Count Domenico Agusta.

In January 2023 all dealer contracts were terminated and a good percentage not renewed. This caused a decline in the sales for 2023, but allowed Dr. Martin to create a much more efficient and responsive dealer network that would duly follow the policy that contributed to make Pierer Mobility so strong and productive.

Martin agrees that MV Agusta can be made profitable with a production of 10,000 units per year, or even less. In the past there were cases of dealers who delayed payments of bikes in their inventory, reducing the cashflow back to the company with negative consequences for the whole financial turnaround of MV Agusta. That is no longer possible since MV Agusta dealers now share the same contract and financial procedures in force with all the Pierer Mobility Group dealers. An integration of the dealer networks with KTM is foreseen to strengthen the whole sales policy.

The model range might keep rolling on as it is now, with 800cc derivatives that are going strong and confirmed the solidity of the project and of the production quality. Pierer Mobility already invested big in the creation of a totally new, 100-bikes-a-day production line. Martin confirmed that the top-range models will be the priority, and big investments are planned to make them the most refined bikes in their segments. Pierer and Martin are determined to make MV Agusta what its image deserves to be, the absolute reference name in terms of performance, refinement, and all-around quality.

It will take massive efforts in R&D and advanced technologies. Hyper-technology, though, will never overshadow the MV Agusta workers, whose dedication and passion represent the main capital of the brand.

The next-generation MV Agusta 1,000cc four models will come at a price, but Martin underlined that the waiting list for the Ferrari Purosangue is four years long and thus there is a market also for the best of the best on two wheels, which does not mean hair-raising performance alone, but all aspects of the man-machine interface. Can MV Agusta deliver that with pride, great dedication, and that special aura of the most legendary marque in motorcycling history? Odds have improved dramatically.


There’s no denying that MV Agusta’s motorcycles are some of the most beautiful to ever be put into production. (MV Agusta/)While there will be technology transfers from KTM to MV Agusta and back, MV Agusta will always maintain its unique legendary personality. Martin confirmed that the CRC research and development center in San Marino Republic will be maintained and improved, while a specific customer care department will be created to offer top-class courtesy service that the owners of what will be intended as the most prestigious bikes in production deserve—a lady recently made a special gift to her husband: a new MV Agusta Superveloce. She asked to have the bike delivered at the factory. In response to the request, MV Agusta prepared a special welcome event, with champagne and all—the Rolls-Royce way.

Given the winning tradition of MV Agusta, the final question about the racing came naturally, and Martin confirmed there is a dream for a return to the top class. MV Agusta is finally back for real, courtesy of the precious support and management by Pierer Mobility Group. MV Agusta may finally have what it needs to succeed.