Ducati Announces Record Sales in 2012

Ducati sold a record 44,102 motorcycles in 2012 while reporting a 16% increase in revenue over 2011. The positive news was announced as part of new parent company Audi‘s annual press conference in Igolstadt, Germany.

Worldwide revenues totaled 606 million euros (US$789 million) including more than 200 million euros since Audi officially acquired Ducati in July 2012. Motorcycle sales were up about 4% from 2011. Sales were particularly strong in the U.S., which accounted for sales of more than 9,300 units in 2012. U.S. sales were also up 21% compared to 2011.

“The biggest single market was the United States with more than 9,300 motorcycles sold – twice as many as in 2003,” says Rupert Stadler, chairman of the board of the Audi. “Why do I mention that? Because the relevant overall market has contracted by more than half in the same period. So Ducati successfully utilized one of the most difficult times in the American motorcycle business as an opportunity.”

Now that Ducati is part of a much larger global corporation like Audi, it is much more open with its sales statistics. While it was still owned by investment firm Investindustrial, Ducati was fairly closed-lipped about its sales and production figures, except when announcing new records. With the new ownership however, we can get a closer look at the figures.

Ducati produced 43,910 motorcycles in 2012, including 41,519 from its base in Bologna, Italy and another 2,391 units from its factory in Thailand. Of these figures, a total of 15,734 units were produced under Audi ownership.

Those Audi-era numbers can be further broken down by product family. Since the acquisition by Audi, Ducati has produced 1,730 Diavel models, 89 Hypermotards, 5,001 Monsters, 2,519 Multistradas, 1,440 Streetfighters and 4,955 sportbikes.

“With new stakeholders in the company, Ducati has never been so solid, and these positive figures confirm the value and commitment of all the company staff and of our brand, increasingly popular, appreciated and renowned all over the world,” says Gabriele Del Torchio, chief executive officer of Ducati Motor Holding. “The 2013 product range, including the new Multistrada, Hypermotard, Hyperstrada and 1199 Panigale R models, is the expression of technological excellence and the emotional impact of our products, ever-important in the current, highly competitive economic climate, perfectly complements our unmistakable, all-Italian style. Ducati is today, and will continue to be, a product-oriented company, with development and innovation as the milestones of our growth strategy.”

[Source: Ducati, Audi]

By Dennis Chung