ABOUT MV AGUSTA
WINNING GROUP
“There are plenty of beautiful motorcycles. MV Agusta is something else”.
Claudio Castiglioni, Presidente MV Agusta Motor S.p.A
THE COMPANY
In 1978 Cagiva (abbreviation of CAstiglioni GIovanni VArese) officially became a motorcycle manufacturer, but the company’s origins date back to 1950, where the family business was focused on metalworking.
Claudio Castiglioni’s passion for racing pushes him to create the Cagiva racing team to contest the GP 500 World Championship with Gianfranco Bonera and Marco Lucchinelli as official riders. Following the take over of the ailing AMF-Harley-Davidson (formerly Aermacchi) plant, Cagiva motorcycle production starts. Following the acquisition, the agreement was for the motorcycles to be produced and sold under the Cagiva-HD brand up until 1980.
The production is quickly expanded from medium sized engines to larger displacements: thanks to Claudio Castiglioni’s heart and industrial vision, in the late ‘80s Ducati was acquired and became part of the Cagiva Group.
At the beginning of the ‘90s, the Ducati 916 and Monster marked an era and in 1996 Ducati was sold following great success in motorsports and on worldwide markets.
In 1987 Cagiva Group also acquired Husqvarna and Moto Morini. The latter did not follow a successful path such as Ducati’s: series production ceased in 1993 following failed attempts to share technical projects such as dedicated medium and large displacement twin cylinder engines. Morini was sold in 1999, several years after production ceased.
Husqvarna, a Swedish company that has origins in small arms manufacture, saw it’s production and sales grow considerably in the offroad market. This brought the company to great success in motocross and enduro that resulted in 69 World Titles.
On the 19th of July 2007, MV Agusta President Claudio Castiglioni and the General Director of BMW Motorrad, Dr. Herbert Diess, signed an agreement for the sale of Husqvarna Motorcycles to the German Group. This operation was intended to allow MV Agusta Group to concentrate resources and efforts on MV Agusta and Cagiva in view of a worldwide expansion.
In 1992 Cagiva acquires the MV Agusta brand, and in 1997 launches the F4, a landmark in motorcycle design. In the last ten years MV Agusta has grown to become a point of reference in high performance motorcycles.
In a period of economic and industrial difficulty that involves the entire world economy and not only the motorcycle industry, another important moment is written in MV Agusta’s history. On the 11th of July 2008, Harley Davidson announced an agreement for the take-over of MV Agusta and Cagiva; on the 8th of August of the same year the operation was finalised financially.
Following two years of investments and product development by Harley Davidson, on the 6th of August 2010 Claudio and Giovanni Castiglioni, through their family holding company repurchased 100% of the shares of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. which owns historic brands MV Agusta and Cagiva. Along with Giovanni Castiglioni, the company is headed by Mr. Massimo Bordi, who took Ducati to success during the years when that company was owned by the Castiglionis.
Claudio Castiglioni, the historic intimate soul of MV Agusta will continue as chairman, and will concentrate on the development of new products. Upon signing the agreement with Harley Davidson, Claudio Castiglioni stated “MV Agusta is the crown jewel of Italian motorcycles, I am thrilled to have completed this transaction. I have already won once together with Massimo Bordi, we made the most beautiful bikes in the world and we will continue with this tradition”.
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