MV Agusta has surprises in store

MV Agusta claims it is back on its financial feet, winning a major design accolade and unveiling a couple of surprises at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan in November.

One of those surprises is believed to be an all-new Brutale with a Euro4-compliant 998cc engine, down from 1078cc, but expected to be more powerful (192hp and 111Nm).

Motorcycle News has reported company boss Giovanni Castiglioni saying the Milanese factory is now again producing its full range of existing and upcoming models.

Earlier this year the company restructured its finances, which seemed to be code for spiralling into bankruptcy.

The Australian and New Zealand distributor of MV Agusta, Urban Moto Imports (UMI), met last week with Giovanni and witnessed a busy production line at the famous Schiranna factory where their latest order of the Brutale 800 and F3 RC models took shape.

MV Agusta has also recently produced a one-off F4Z model designed by car designers Zagato.

While the F4Z has polarised opinion about its radical streamlined appearance, it has won the “Special Prize” at the recent third international Chantilly Arts & Elegance 2016 in France.

Mind you, it was judged by a jury composed of more than 50 “authoritative members” of both the car and culture worlds, no motorcycle representatives.

It was built for a very rich Japanese businessman and there is no word from MV Agusta about any more being produced, even as a limited edition model.

However, we don’t expect that will be a future direction for the company as Castiglioni told Motorcycle News they would be downsizing and not developing new models.

He says they will concentrate on popular models such as the Brutale and has ruled out producing lower-capacity bikes like Ducati’s Scrambler Sixty2.

“We are still discussing the exact situation with new investors but right now we are generating cash and, combined with the existing investors we have, there may not be a need for additional investment,” he is reported to have said.

“This is still to be decided for sure but by the end of October we have to submit a plan regarding future investment plans. Everything is open at the moment.”

Stay tuned!