Ducati says it’s done it again—smashed former sales records, that is. According to the Italian manufacturer, they’ve set a new record for most-ever bikes sold in the first half of a year.
As per their press release:
- A record of 34,976 motorcycles were delivered globally in the first half of 2023, 5 percent more than in the same period of 2022
- The top three markets for Ducati have grown compared to last year: Italy +10 percent, United States +11 percent and Germany +13 percent
- The Multistrada V4 is the top-seller of the Ducati range with 6,382 motorcycles delivered so far in 2023
It should be noted that sometimes these sales numbers are a bit nebulous, and bikes delivered might not actually mean motorcycles in customers’ hands. Nevertheless, it’s a measure of sorts, and Ducati seems to be very, very happy about its results, particularly with those double-digit gains in its three biggest markets.
But it is still interesting stuff indeed, as Ducati is best-known for exotic sportbikes and the aggressive naked bikes of the Monster lineup in particular. So now the Multi is the Duc you want? The V4 version, in particular?
It’s not something we would have expected a decade ago, but ever since the V4 Multistrada platform debuted, Ducati has really doubled down on it, and it seems consumers are much more interested than they used to be. Taking a look further down through Ducati’s sales, we do see the Monster is the second-most-popular machine, at 4,299 bikes delivered worldwide; the 800 Scrambler series is third, with 3,581 bikes delivered worldwide in Q1/Q2. Those are machines we would have expected to see there.
But with the Panigale series sitting way down the list, it’s worth asking: Although Ducati demolished the competition in both World Superbike and MotoGP last year, might it be worthwhile for the company to instead think about somehow promoting its ADV bikes through competition? Big-bike rally events are still a thing in Europe, after all, even if the FIM has banned them from Dakar…
For his part, Ducati bigwig Francesco Milicia (officially titled “VP Global Sales and After Sales,” whatever that means) said “This first half-year was Ducati’s best ever in terms of deliveries. We reached a record 34,976 bikes delivered, proving that our passionate clients continue to appreciate our product range, which is now wider than ever. The supply bottlenecks experienced last year are now over but the global competition in the market is more intense in the post COVID-era also because of better product availability.” In other words, it’s getting easier to buy a Ducati now that COVID contianment measures and problems have receded, so that’s what people are doing.
