MV Agusta F4 Tamburini
It looks like MV Agusta is on the market again. The company has been exchanging hands for quite abit recently. It was first ‘resurrected’ by Cagiva after it purchased the rights to the name in 1991. The first ‘modern’ MV Agusta rolled off the factory in 1997. In 1999, the group was restructured and MV Agusta became the main brand replacing Cagiva.
It got into heavy debt and was purchased by Proton end-2004. Then came the famous 1 Euro sale to GEVI SpA. The company then sold its Husqvarna brand to BMW, leaving the group with only MV Agusta and Cagiva brands. In 2008, Harley Davidson bought the group for 70 million Euros.
And here we are today, with bike sales sluggish in the US (Harley Davidson worldwide net income declined 84.1% in Q3 this year compared to the last quarter), Harley Davidson has decided to leave the sports bike market to focus on the typical Harley kind of heavy and noise hog, in a ‘back to basics’ kind of move. Harley also announced that its Buell brandname will be discontinued. The company says the kind of profit it gets from a sale of an MV Agusta or a Buell is far less than that of a relatively low-tech Harley Davidson.
So who will be next in line to own MV Agusta?
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
history repeat again
i found two cases in 1 pound buyout…one is MV Agusta sold to foreigner in 1 pound and the other is LDV van maker buyout by a malaysian Weststar Datuk Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim the ex-army man….also with 1 pound….
haha looking so cheap but new owner hav to paid to million pound debt….
hahaha very interesting
The problem with MV Agusta is the brand. For those who have been to Varese knows that they have one fine R&D and assembly plan at Varese.
What ALL previous owner of MV Agusta (including Proton) failed to capitalized is the the 'brand essence'. It's totally different with 'brand' alone.
To keep it simple, new comer in motorbike industry could grab the opportunity to capitalize on the 'brand essence' of MV Agusta, by utilizing everything at disposal at Varese & develop the essence into one whole NEW BRAND.
Scrap the 'Agusta brand'. Maintain the essence of initial and rebrand it into totally new entity with world demographic in mind, thus propelling new world class branding.
Proton had a good chance to tap into the vast market of motorbikes/motorcycles if the bought the MV with what i said in mind. Alas, they bought it thinking of changing it INITIAL essence into a compact car engine… which history now will tell us that a mistake learned through the hard way.
To answer Paul's Q… as i said, new & emerging conglomerate in motorbike/motorcycle industry should capitalized on this.
Modenas or Naza Bikes… are you game?
scanzew said,
November 4, 2009 @ 10:49 pm
i found two cases in 1 pound buyout…one is MV Agusta sold to foreigner in 1 pound and the other is LDV van maker buyout by a malaysian Weststar Datuk Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim the ex-army man….also with 1 pound….
haha looking so cheap but new owner hav to paid to million pound debt….
hahaha very interesting
—————–
It's normal business practice. You can't just give the company away, so the 1 pound/dollar/ringgit price is just symbolic. Even AirAsia was sold by DRB for RM 1 to Tune Air.
just another way of corruptions, shit ..how can a company only worth 1 pound then but now worth millions to new buyer. bolehland expanded to pizza land la, fxxk
@ pat…
Let say u have a business (which i certainly you don't)…
Your business is losing because of whatever reason and have debt/hutang/? of RM450 million…
So logically if let say Paul want to buy your business/company… You will be lucky he's willing to buy your business in the first place, let alone paying even 1 cent, with that amount of debt he has to bare once he acquired your business/company.
Dear pat,
Here is the deal
GEVI is an investment holding company organized and existing under the laws of Italy and having its registered office at Via Corsica 216, 16128, Genova, Fiscal Code 01600410995.
GEVI will assume these liabilities:
(a) Restructured Frozen Debts amounting to EUR106.94 million,
and
(b) Working Capital requirements amounting to EUR32.50 million
The Proposed Disposal is not expected to have any effect on the earnings, net assets, share capital nor shareholdings of PROTON.
Inter alia, the salient terms of the agreement are:
(a) The Purchaser is to open an escrow account with Banca Carige S.p.A, Genova, Italy for the sum of EUR500,000.00 to secure:
(i) the timely opening and funding of the Second Escrow Account; and
(ii) subject to the fulfillment of the Conditions Precedents and to the performance of the actions set out in the agreement, the occurrence of Repayment on the Closing Date.
Should the actions mentioned above are not timely complied with by the Purchaser, Proton Capital Sdn Bhd shall be entitled to withdraw the money from the First Escrow Account and terminate the Agreement.
(b) On or before 18 January 2006, the Purchaser is to open a Second Escrow Account with Banca Carige S.p.A. for the sum of EUR15.0 million to secure the obligation of the purchaser to subscribe and pay the capital increase in MVA.
The agreement is subject to conditions precedents to be obtained not later than 15 February 2006.
Inter alia:
(a) adoption by the shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting of MVA with the unanimous vote of all shareholders’ of a resolution allowing the Purchaser to purchase the said shares from Proton Capital Sdn Bhd and further subscribe for the capital increase in MVA. And subsequent thereat, to approve the amendment to the articles of association of MVA;
(b) waiver in writing by other shareholders of MVA of their pre-emptive rights in connection with the transfer of shares from Proton Capital Sdn Bhd to the Purchaser;
(c) termination of the shareholders’ agreement executed on 26 November 2004;
(d) termination of the shareholders agreement executed on 25 November 2004;
(e) termination of the service agreement executed on 26 November 2004;
(f) Husqvarna AB to release Proton Capital Sdn Bhd from all obligations as contained in the Husqvarna Augusta Agreement executed on 29 October 2004;
(g) delivery to MVA of a letter to be executed by several banks (as identified in the Agreement) whereby the Banks declare that they fully agree with the exercise of the voting rights by Claudio Castiglioni for adoption of the resolution and the waiver by Claudio Castiglioni of the pre-emptive rights mentioned above;
(h) execution by Proton Capital Sdn Bhd and each of the shareholders of MVA and the Banks of an agreement whereby they settle and waive their eventual claims vis-a-vis Proton Capital Sdn Bhd and they declare to the maximum possible extent not to have any claim at any title vis-a-vis Proton Capital Sdn Bhd any other entity of Proton Group and the directors and statutory auditors of MVA appointed by Proton Capital Sdn Bhd and they waive their rights to sue them, for any title whatsoever; and
(i) obtaining of antitrust authorization from competent Italian authorities.
p.s. I hope Tengku Mahaleel have not thrown away Claudio Castiglioni's telephone numbers.
just let it die for once and for all……
wat r u waiting 4 modenas???hahaha
hurry up!!!
wudan,i think i like you!!!!rather than comment like,corrupt shit lah!!! etc etc…you give things in details…damm you are one smarty pants hat have too much time on yur hand just like me!!!
haha, Good one wudan. Maybe can explain to that fella abaout OPEX, CAPEX, goodwill and all that accounting crap. He just need enlightening perhaps.
A lesson learnt in a hard way indeed.
redfueler said,
November 5, 2009 @ 2:35 am
'wat r u waiting 4 modenas???hahaha
hurry up!!!'
Hm, Harley Davidson want to discontinue the 'Buell' brandname ? Rotax in Austria developed a wonderful V2 engine with 146hp for Buell, only usable for sport bikes:
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/07/07/2008…
If I were the CEO of Modenas, I wouldn't go for MV Agusta or Buell, but for this engine…
Maybe tony fernadez can buy this for RM1 and turn it around:D
It is a jinx company.
1euro vs 70 million euros hmmmm….
It's probably a bad timing when Harley Davidson acquired MV Agusta, last time. Their revenue just kept shrinking as the economic recession hit the world not long after. And MV Agusta, for last several years were just recycling the obsolete chassis of the F4 superbike, with numerous incarnations of the F4R and Brutale. I heard rumours that MV Agusta to unveil an all new F5 as a successor to the ageing F4, during EICMA in November this year, hopefully it will be true, and could attract the the potential investors. Would be great to have another new European superbike joined the fray!
Proton buy back with 1 Euro again!
here is the reason before this,
Why Proton Acquire MV Agusta
From the View Point of Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Ariff , Former CEO of Proton
“Recalling that it took some 14 months to deliberate on the purchase of Agusta, Tengku Mahaleel expressed surprise that selling it off took just two months to decide. According to him, the 14-month period began in December 2002 when Agusta was identified for acquisition” – Tengku Mahaleel
Reason for Purchase
(1) Agusta has the Technology
The key technologies which Agusta already has have been presented as one of the important reasons for acquiring it and he again emphasised them with more elaboration than before.
Being a motorcycle manufacturer, Agusta has the expertise to make small yet powerful high-tech engines and could develop 850 cc and 1000 cc engines for Proton models at 50% what it would cost Proton/Lotus to develop. Such engines would be RM2,500 cheaper than the engine currently used in the Savvy, and on a production run of 250,000 Savvys over 5 years, it would thus be possible to lower production costs by RM625 million.
This figure, he pointed out, more than paid for the 70 million euros which Proton had paid to buy over Agusta.
(2) Agusta has a Concept for a RM10,000 car and Patented airflow system (KERETA RAKYAT, like Germany have their own Volkswagen mean people's car)
Tengku Mahaleel also revealed that Agusta had a concept for a RM10,000 car using unique manufacturing methods and also had a patented airflow system which was going to be used for the Campro engines. The Italian company also has a very unique gearbox which would be valuable to Proton
(3) Agusta could be a profit centre for Proton
Agusta could actually become a profit centre for Proton, he revealed the 2006 earnings forecast prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers, an independent accounting firm, which was said to be a ‘conservative’ one. In the forecast (before tax), Agusta could be making RM73 million this year (best case) and even in the worst case, RM31 million. The forecast for 2010 was RM228 million.
(4) Agusta Debt Restrucring Plan
Tengku Mahaleel revealed the purchase conditions which were agreed upon when Proton bought over Agusta (or more accurately, acquired the MV Group through a share injection of 70 million euros). The conditions related to the settlement of Agusta’s debts with specific terms over a 4-year period, and he claimed that even prior to purchase, Proton had managed to reduce the debt level to 68 million euros.
Crucial to the survival of Agusta, which was on the brink of bankruptcy, was getting working capital and to address this quickly, it was decided that the unused credit line of 9 million euros available through Proton UK would be utilised. Also, group purchasing of Japanese parts worth 12 million euros was carried out, optimizing buying power.
—
it's been a vision for MALAYSIA to build RM10,000 car like Germany have their own People's Car (VOLKSWAGEN)
the Volkswagen Polo price is about EURO12,500.. German's low income salary is about EURO2,000 therefore they only need to save about 7months salary to afford a car while we Malaysian need at least 5 years to afford to buy a car.
Adolf Hitler is clever in automotive industry. he create the Volkswagen and he is the turning point why Germany now is #1 biggest economy superpower in Europe!
OK, looks like the new MV Agusta F4 is set to be unveiled on 10th November 2009!!!!!
Some teasers :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJR1Lyb2AU&fe…
Exciting time ahead for the WSBK fraternity! (there's a new big bang Kawasaki ZX-10R on the cards too, in 2011)
so the next will be naza or DRB? but if this company worth to by
china will buy it yesterday
Are they willing to sell it for 1 euro? i'll buy over the company if its that price. then i'll sell it to proton at a discounted rate of 20mil.
Will Proton buy back to save their lost of face previously….. LOL :)
Expert advice to MV agusta…..just CLOSE SHOP and build new business to
hire the scrap cars business owners in Malaysia….HAHAHA :)
then wat will happen to the newly launched Brutale – a so-called Duc Streetfighter competitor.. i guess Kawa z1000 will prevail..haha go go Jap
Modenas should buy it.
Stop JV with kawasaki. None of kawasaki superbike are cheap now.
Then we might get a 250cc – 1000cc motorbike by modenas.
Enter the Grand Prix then. Be a champion of the world.
No.. just dreaming…
Won't be surprised if the Chinese buy it. They don't ride normal bikes anymore but superbikes could be a new trend. Or like Proton, they could make use of MVA technology and European presence to make and market Chinese cars.
They're probably better at exploiting that too.
There is no way we going to make a RM10k car, as we all knew that Cheap doesn't come with any good.. You pay what u get…
'the Volkswagen Polo price is about EURO12,500.. German’s low income salary is about EURO2,000 therefore they only need to save about 7months salary to afford a car while we Malaysian need at least 5 years to afford to buy a car.'
What this mean? This mean that our country earning power is now on par with them.. Even Korea earning power is higher compare to us. Still our G tax foreign car even higher compare to us… Even knowing that our earning power is low and even getting a RM60K above car is killing us with the interest of 5-9 years loan…
Littlefire, Germany's low income is EUR2000. You sure our low income is RM2000?
dear wudan,
i dont think any copmany of this size worth only 1 pound even with debts.
who knows who are the real beneficiary who had paid the 1 pound. do u?
hack3line said,
November 5, 2009 @ 9:20 am
"t’s been a vision for MALAYSIA to build RM10,000 car like Germany have their own People’s Car (VOLKSWAGEN)
the Volkswagen Polo price is about EURO12,500.. German’s low income salary is about EURO2,000 therefore they only need to save about 7months salary to afford a car while we Malaysian need at least 5 years to afford to buy a car."
I'm sorry, this is wrong ! Even in the low income salary group, in Germany you have to pay income tax and social insurance fees which is about 50% of the salary. The tax and fees are automatically deducted from your salary.
A salary of EURO2000 in Germany means EURO1000 in your pocket. And of course all other goods are more expensive there, i.e. dinner with your wife is minimum EURO50=RM250… ;)
squawk said,
November 5, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
Littlefire, Germany’s low income is EUR2000. You sure our low income is RM2000?
—
Good point you have there indeed.
I think average low income of Malaysian are RM500 .
+++
If the car making process can be cheaper,
The raw material itself is a bomb! .
Lets figure out what is the price of metal now. It's at least RM1200 per ton.
Now how much was plastic material? Now what about rubber, wire, cooper, blablabla all material needed, etc etc etc etc..
To make a car with price tagged RM10K is near IMPOSSIBLE!
keep dream on.
"Stop JV with kawasaki. None of kawasaki superbike are cheap now."
if i'm not mistaken, Kawasaki superbikes are the cheapest in Malaysia,
but please dont compare with superbikes from korea and taiwan….
Betcha 90% the buyer will be from China…
Dear Pat,
Try not to think that MV Agusta is worth One Euro. Clearly, the liabilities of MV Agusta exceeds its assets. When Proton Capital Sdn Bhd signed the Shares Purchase Agreement with Gevi Spa, one must state a sum as Purchase Consideration. You can't have Zero or negative consideration so the nominal unit of One Euro is stated. This is the norm.
So in fact Gevi Spa actually paid One Euro plus 106.94 mil Euro of Restructured Frozen Debts and Working Capital amounting to EUR32.50 million for the assets of MV Agusta.
Well, Gevi SpA is an investment holding company, it is the private equity division of one of Italy’s oldest and most established banks, Banca Carige.
If you have deal to make in Italy, just google ‘Gruppo Banca Carige’, if you need their advise.
I still think a lot of ppl dont even know how other country tax works…
Yup they tax 50%, but remember that if u use ur money to loan house + loan car + invest in fund..
Take EUR2000 – House loan 350 – Car Loan 350 – 300 invest funds = EUR1000
Tax 50%, u only be tax EUR500. A lot of ppl invest in funds which help them from being tax, when they need money they can just withdraw from funds which in turn they are not actually tax 50% on their salary every month!
If oversea is so bad, why everyone want to migrate oversea?!? Huh? Katak di bawah tempurung.. U tot their G is blood sucker compare to us day light robber?
people like p.a.t. are useless.. with dirty negative mind & idiotic logic.. only bring shame to M'sian…
Littlefire… Interesting info..
May I know which country has the tax structure like that… Must be a rich country with a lot of O&G like UAE :D
Obviously you hate gov so much.. instead of keep complaining.. why dont u act with ur vote… If u have voted and still no changes then I think its the best time for u to think of migrating to the country that u think their gov doesnt tax that much..
Well no point keep complaining everywhere… Its just a nuisance.. act now or never…
i become next owner, buy 1 rupiah
Littlefire said,
November 5, 2009 @ 8:51 pm
"I still think a lot of ppl dont even know how other country tax works…
Yup they tax 50%, but remember that if u use ur money to loan house + loan car + invest in fund..
Take EUR2000 – House loan 350 – Car Loan 350 – 300 invest funds = EUR1000
Tax 50%, u only be tax EUR500. A lot of ppl invest in funds which help them from being tax, when they need money they can just withdraw from funds which in turn they are not actually tax 50% on their salary every month!"
Believe me: House loans, car loans and investments will not decrease the amount of tax you have to pay in Germany. Actually you have to pay 50% of your salary as tax & social insurance fees. The tax free investments you talk about are for your retirement plan and can only be withdraw if you reach the age of 67 (the german retirement age).
On the other hand hospital bills (even expensive operations) are paid 100% by social insurance, schooling is free up to the university level and when you're in trouble and unemployed, the insurance will pay your rent and gives you money to live from.
Why I'm so sure ? I worked & lived 25yrs in Germany… ;)
Mohd, so u r from Germany?? COOL
want to know.. is it true the old car scrapping scheme, that so many low income malaysian against (15 years old car).. in Germany just 10 years old can get RM2,500, more than to one month low income salary in Germany.. during its implementation, Germany car sales up 40%??
about MODENAS.. they should not rely so much on Kawasaki, go buy MV Agusta from Italy, they got the technology, get their R&D and think well plan strategy for better future.
it is not same if we get license from other company (say Kawasaki), while we own Italy great engineering.. u can't get full knowledge of motorcycle engineering if you too rely on others, but you can get the full knowledge and the engineering if you own that company (MV Agusta) because you are the decision maker. But for sure you must know how to handle its financial status.. one of the solution i think MODENAS can ask help, advice from AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes on how to take care MV Agusta account (Tony Fernandes was admitted as Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1991 and became Fellow Member in 1996.).. he is the one who save AirAsia from RM4 MILLION debt and turn it to be the world best low fare airline.
hack3line,
TonyF is selling services. In services industry lots and lots of cost cutting exercise can be implemented without damaging the services but selling product, you cant really do that. If you shake the tree so hard to remove the bloody dead wood and reduce the workforce, you'll might lose the brains as well. Sales not improving, volume reduce but you still have to maintain the same OPEX and in the end the company bleed you to death (as what happen to Proton). Unless you can have magic wand and wish for new, good, cheap acceptable product can be churn out fastest (3 to 6 months) and sold in volumes. GM america is suffering from same issues (except for high inventory, I dont think MV have high inventory haha) where the OPEX is bleeding the co to death with high inventory and limited access to credit.
Mohd,
The free college education is no longer available in Germany kan?
scottloeb,
after BMW Motorrad acquire MV Agusta, they gain all their superbike engineering and then sell them to Harley Davidson.. u tell me since when BMW have very good superbike engineering??
only when BMW acquired MV Agusta, then only they can produce a very good superbike engineering machine called
BMW S1000 RR
BMW Motorrad will compete in WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP (SBK) next year!
BMW S1000 RR, BMW create this superbike after they gain full access to MV Agusta italian engineering, they know how to utilized the MV Agusta facility.
some good videos about this BMW S 1000 RR superbike that BMW made after gain full access of MV Agusta engineering facility in Italy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XhjXeQSfYU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYVNzJUJeKQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg00ZBqNrd8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z0WB80snUc
MODENAS should buy this MV Agusta, even RENAULT can rebuilt NISSAN company to their best! RENAULT+NISSAN make NISSAN GT-R35 car.
Ghosn joined Nissan as its chief operating officer in June 1999, became its president in June 2000 and was named chief executive officer in June 2001. His turnaround of Nissan has gained him celebrity status in Japan, where he has published books and even has a manga character based on him.
When he joined the NISSAN company, IT HAD DEBT OF $20 BILLION and ONLY 3 OF ITS 48 MODELS GENERATE PROFIT. Ghosn was viewed as an outsider by the media and parts of Nissan. Ghosn promised to resign if the company did not reach profitability by the end of the year,and claimed that Nissan would have no net debt by 2005. He defied Japanese business etiquette, cut thousands of Nissan jobs, shut the first of five domestic plants, and auctioned off prized assets such as Nissan's aerospace unit. His radical moves have made him Public Enemy No. 1 to Japanese traditionalists. However, in one year, Nissan's net profit climbed to $2.7 billion from a loss of $6.1 billion in the previous year. Nissan's operating profit (EBIT, or earnings before interest and taxes) margin has increased from 1.38% in FY 2000 to 9.25% in FY 2006.
take Carlos Ghosn, RENAULT-NISSAN relationship as the lesson on how to gain full advantage of other company! I believe MODENAS can do it.
Hack,
BMW Motorrad already building bikes since 1920's. They already have a good products available in the inventory, and they have big brother, the car division that is making money year on year with multiple product lines with highest margin coming through from SUV and their product are priced at the premium. proton on the other hand suffering from poor sales of every model, saga and persona was not there, they were still selling the LMST and they have 2-3 disaster named Chancellor, Gen2 and Savvy respectively. Wira PECA and SE was filling up every landfill available at the country at that point of time. And proton is not in the business of selling motorbikes, let alone a proper car (at that point of time).
Modenas on the other hand is learning the trade. Its bread and butter is the scooter and mopeds, and these bikes are being sold in volumes. Further more its territory is being harassed by cheap Thai imports of mopeds from the traditional Hondas and Yamahas. Even Suzuki is suffering.The newcomer Kymco or Naza crappy Taiwan's link or even the MZ also come and go but not Honda and Yamaha. To tell you the truth if you have 20K will you buy a Ninja or a Modenas equivalent of Naza Blade? No, you will never get an Agusta at that price and the malaysian public let alone other market) will be very sceptical on Modenas. Again another public money going to the drain.
And I agree with another commentator, if the company is so good, why dont the Chinese buy it? They would have bought it yesterday. When we want to buy Lotus, the Koreans are hot on our trails (just like the Chinese car maker putting money in American/European brand Company like Volvo or Rover these days). That shows how Lotus is valued. And yes, Malaysian consortium together with Tommy Suharto did own Lamborghini before it being sold to VW-Audi.
better fast if MODENAS want to buy this MV AGUSTA..
i heard rumour that Volkkswagen interested in buying this MV AGUSTA company.
the boss from Volkswagen already given signal said he want to buy Italian superbike company.. could it be MV Agusta??
dear scottloeb,
BMW Motorrad did not make SUPERBIKE like what KAWASAKI, HONDA, YAMAHA, SUZUKI, DUCATI until they bought MV AGUSTA.. if not long time ago they compete in MotoGP and Superbike Championship la.
VW Ferdinand Piech declared that VW would like to expand its portfolio with a small (but profitably) bike-company, among his dream is to own italian superbike company.
usually superbike produced in limited numbers only, just to reach the economuc of scales.. they do the marketing analysis first on potential customers in the region.
one advantage of acquiring the Italian company is that they have a very good engine technology.. history in F1 teach us that Italian (like Ferrari) produce very good engines, to counter it, the british make a very good aerodynamic system to their F1 cars (williams, lotus, mclaren).. and after the italian company know it, they focus on that area also and transfer the knowledge to their commercial cars.
so gov made wrong decision when selling mv agusta in kelam kabut?
the bike in irobot , is it an mv agusta?
Mazda 3 MPS, yes it is MV Agusta bike in that irobot Hollywood movie
kujik, i donno wrong decision or what but it's very hard to maintain 2 companies LOTUS and MV AGUSTA at the same time which both have huge debt.. maybe the management of PROTON think they need more focus on restructure the LOTUS company.
hack3line said,
November 6, 2009 @ 8:08 am
"Mohd, so u r from Germany?? COOL
want to know.. is it true the old car scrapping scheme, that so many low income malaysian against (15 years old car).. in Germany just 10 years old can get RM2,500, more than to one month low income salary in Germany.. during its implementation, Germany car sales up 40%??
about MODENAS.. they should not rely so much on Kawasaki, go buy MV Agusta from Italy, they got the technology, get their R&D and think well plan strategy for better future."
Under the german car scrapping scheme, you got EURO2500 (RM12500) if you turned in a 9 year old car. BUT: In Germany the road tax is calculated by the emissions. Nine year old cars have EURO2 while new cars have EURO5. A car like a Kancil with EURO2 costs more road tax than a Mercedes S500 with EURO5 in Germany. That's why the scheme was so successful (not for the luxury car manufacturers Audi, BMW and Mercedes btw.)
Concerning Modenas/MV Agusta: I have been in many italian companies. Wonderful engineering (DOHC was standard at Alfa Romeo when Toyota engineers were still in kindergarden), really brilliant ideas. But usually italian engineers don't think about who should manufacture & assemble their wonderful creations. That's okay for a ultra-expensive Ferrari or MV Agusta or Ducati, but a Modenas Cub ?
BTW: BMW never purchased MV Agusta, only the Husqvarna division. The S1000RR was introduced in April 2008 already and is already racing in the current SBK championship 2009. In 2010 you can buy the 190hp @ 190kg road version of the S1000RR. And scottloeb is right: BMW Motorrad is only a small division of the BMW car group. In the late 70s they already wanted to stop the motorcycle production, but they kept it because of 'brand image' and developed the K100. They use the 'Motorrad' division as some kind of advertisement also.
scottloeb said,
November 6, 2009 @ 9:06 am
"Mohd,
The free college education is no longer available in Germany kan?"
It depends in which 'Land' (state) of Germany you live, some are free, some not. But the maximum fee is EURO2000 per semester which can be financed by government loan and have to paid back within 10 years or so.
@ Mohd…
I'm soo glad there's a knowledgeable poster/commenter like you & some others in here.
It's been too long lots of discussion (read arguement) in here are always discussed (read arguing) with emotion without any hard fact or constructive
criticism.
My motto is always if you want others to take you seriously always give constructive inputs… kudos to commenter like you & others like you.
the point here MODENAS still rely so much on Kawasaki from Japan which is not their company.. they need full access to latest technology like the italian superbike company like MV Agusta.
you said about motorcycle cub.. oh well, HONDA start from making cub then making superbike and then making very fast cars like HONDA NSX. If HONDA can do it why not MODENAS??
curently in this world which one do you prefer Malaysia motorcycle or Italian motorcycle like MV Agusta or DUCATI?? and why??
@ hackline…
read my comment yesterday…
_____
Kim said,
November 4, 2009 @ 10:58 pm
The problem with MV Agusta is the brand. For those who have been to Varese knows that they have one fine R&D and assembly plan at Varese.
What ALL previous owner of MV Agusta (including Proton) failed to capitalized is the the ‘brand essence’. It’s totally different with ‘brand’ alone.
To keep it simple, new comer in motorbike industry could grab the opportunity to capitalize on the ‘brand essence’ of MV Agusta, by utilizing everything at disposal at Varese & develop the essence into one whole NEW BRAND.
Scrap the ‘Agusta brand’. Maintain the essence of initial and rebrand it into totally new entity with world demographic in mind, thus propelling new world class branding.
Proton had a good chance to tap into the vast market of motorbikes/motorcycles if the bought the MV with what i said in mind. Alas, they bought it thinking of changing it INITIAL essence into a compact car engine… which history now will tell us that a mistake learned through the hard way.
________
Modenas can do it… should be no problem. But not under the 'Modenas brand'or Agusta for that matter. They can acquired it, continue with the RnD… come out with fresh new model cater for world demographic and RE-BRAND IT.
They are few emerging branding talents here in Malaysia. I'm working with one (which i cannot reveal his name yet because im hogging him for my project 1st hehe :D )
But it can be done. Someone commented that if the MV Agusta is soo beneficial, why don't China's company acquired it… it's simple. Because currently China's companies are not well known for their strength in branding. They are more on hyper low cost manufacturing.
Look at BMW… majority of their corporate level people are from Germany but when it comes to branding… they acquired an American. If not how they managed to sell soo many beemer with almost the same boring fascia across their ranges?
hack3line said,
November 6, 2009 @ 8:47 pm
"you said about motorcycle cub.. oh well, HONDA start from making cub then making superbike and then making very fast cars like HONDA NSX. If HONDA can do it why not MODENAS??"
You got me wrong, I didn't meant that a cub is something substandard. But when manufacturing a cub, you have to keep an eye on the costs. You have to design it in that way, that the worker at the assembling line is able to do his job fast and efficient. MV Agusta's are hand made, so there's nothing to win for Modenas in that imaginary deal.
If I would prefer a Malaysian bike or an italian ? Well, I would like to see a successor of the Modenas Dinamik, but with 250cc four-stroke engine. I always wondered why this bike was never popular here, in Greece you can see thousands of them on the road… ;)
Mohd, that is different factor although it is also important
but the main thing here MODENAS cannot rely so much on other foreign company technology which they did not own (KAWASAKI),.. another important factor is MODENAS must get the access best technology from other foreign company that proven have best technology, MV AGUSTA win so many world racing titles in the past like LOTUS also, MODENAS also must have the true role as the real decision maker.. take PROTON and LOTUS as an example, when PROTON ordered LOTUS to produce engine for PROTON benefit what can they say? they must follow the order from the boss.
it is a matter on how u fully utilized the knowledge.. like HONDA company start from making motorcycle cub like HONDA CUB C50 to fast cars like HONDA NSX.
like BMW, SAAB and also AGUSTA, they start from making aircraft then making cars and motorcycle. but they can transform the knowledge in aviation industry to automotive industry.. u also need high creativity to do that!
hack3line said,
November 6, 2009 @ 9:34 pm
"Mohd, that is different factor although it is also important
but the main thing here MODENAS cannot rely so much on other foreign company technology which they did not own (KAWASAKI),.."
Yes, and they are doing already something against this:
"Modenas plans for R&D centre overseas"
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=68…
Modenas ada duit untuk beli MV Augusta tak?
Just curious
saki77, pemegang saham terbesar MODENAAS adalah DRB-Hicom..
DRB-Hicom pula pemegang saham terbesar adalah Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary dan syarikat-syarikatnya.
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary pula adalah orang #7 terkaya di Malaysia,
aset dia seorang sahaja lebih RM2.93 BILLION pada tahun 2005, tahun ni dia dah bida nak beli syarikat PROTON dari kerajaan Malaysia (KHAZANAH).
ingat dia tak mampu ke nak beli MV AGUSTA.. pasal komen konon makan duit rakyat tu merapu je, tengok dulu siapa pemegang saham terbesar MODENAS sebelum bagi komen, ia adalah swasta!
Hack,
Cuti kita tidur la, kurang2kan tgk internet heh..
My point is BMW already build bikes. I know they dont build superbikes, but theyre the best in touring bikes. They already have a good foundation and superbikes is just another division in their stable, just like introduction of X5 after they take over Rover/Land Rover and acquire their 4wd expertise.
The Modenas might or might not work. If that happen, I just hope that they engage the best lawyers to sort the contract and have a proper fall back plan.
Agusta tread turn to modenas tread….. Hmmmmm ?????????
Anybody may able to buy MV Agusta…
The point is… May anybody pay their debt?
What i see… Buying the MV now… is adding a liability to the company… not an investment…
Mohd said,
November 6, 2009 @ 9:14 pm
If I would prefer a Malaysian bike or an italian ? Well, I would like to see a successor of the Modenas Dinamik, but with 250cc four-stroke engine. I always wondered why this bike was never popular here, in Greece you can see thousands of them on the road…
___________
correction bro.. modenas dinamik is only 120cc with 2-stroke engine.
The bottom line is, anybody who's going to buy MV Agusta must have deep pockets, the same passion for the brand and must have a viable marketing strategy , and this includes active involvement in WSBK racing, as it needs to continue its motorsports heritage to uplift its image (and of course sales) in modern era. MV's debt is always there, that's why the new owner must have the much needed criteria to steer the company away from the reds.
The all-new 2010 MV Agusta F4, had just been launched, this should be a good starting point for the new owner to propel this company to new heights.