MV Agusta has plans for big growth

MV Agusta president Timur Sardarov is a man with a plan—a plan to significantly grow his company’s motorcycle sales within the next five years.

For the past half-decade, MV Agusta has seen massive challenges. Problems with finances, a jumbled dealer network, internal re-structuring and shrinking sales have all combined to bring the company close to irrelevancy. Sardarov wants to change all that, and grow sales to 25,000 bikes a year.

Right now, MV Agusta is selling 3,000-3,500 motorcycles a year, says Sardarov. Although it’s still known for building beautiful exotic motorcycles, it’s also flogging the same basic platforms (F3 triple and F4 four-cylinder) that it’s run for almost a decade. You can buy a highly-tuned version of most MV Agusta motorcycles, with lots of carbon fibre, trick running gear and gorgeous bodywork, but its machines are not seeing the technological advancements of the competition. And, they’re really only available in two flavours: expensive sportbike, or expensive naked bike. And, the dealer network is now so small that it’s difficult to even find one in some countries.

Sardarov plans to change all that, starting with plans for a new 350 cc line of motorcycles, built in conjunction with Chinese manufacturer Loncin. And, it plans to bring electric motorcycles to market under the Cagiva marque in the next 12 months. But perhaps its biggest move is an ambitious plan to develop a new 950 platform. These bikes will be built in Italy, not China, and should be a broader line than current MV Agusta offerings, including adventure bikes.

Another key part of the sales growth plans is a focus on Internet sales. Or at least, that’s the plan. We’ll probably see much of the company’s future determined over 2020, as that’s a lot of tricky change to achieve in the next few months.