MV Agusta has no cash for a new superbike in 2017

Despite making some gorgeously designed motorcycles, troubled Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta has no financial resources to produce a new superbike for the 2017 model year, according to MV Agusta chief executive officer Giovanni Castiglioni in an Australian Motorcycle News report.

For the next year, MV Agusta will instead concentrate on the design and production of a 1200 cc, four-cylinder naked sportsbike, perhaps a replacement for the current Brutale 1090. “We know that a Brutale 1200 will sell very strongly, so we have to concentrate on that,” said Castiglioni.

MV Agusta has had a very tumultuous year, from a less than ideal relationship with 25% stakeholder Mercedes-AMG, to reducing production capacity as well as legal entanglements. It has, however, obtained new funding in new shareholder Black Ocean, which holds somewhere between 30%-40% of the firm.

MV Agusta has no cash for a new superbike in 2017

It was also reported that MV Agusta would be scaling down production in 2017 to 5,000 units, down from the 8,400 units sold in 2016. This is on top of news that MV Agusta’s workforce has been reduced to 190 personnel from 300, with its research and development team cut from 70 to 40 people.

In Malaysia, MV Agusta recently signed an exclusive assembly and distribution agreement with DNC Asiatic Holdings. During the signing ceremony, it was said that all eight machines in MV Agusta’s current range would be brought in to Malaysia and assembled in CKD form.