I saw a MotoBob video this am which talked about Ducati, they sold 54k bikes last year down from 59k but made quite a bit more profit, their CFO also confirmed that they are focussing on profit rather than volume. this is okay… quality over quantity as long as the bikes are really premium but I think the truth is somewhere in the middle, my suspicions is the bikes are getting more expensive but also trying harder to save money on the build of them also. oh and he called out how successful the constant stream of over priced (not his words) specials for the influencers and UAE posers have been. That’s fine, personally I think it’s a short sighted approach, once the people buying the latest V4 special realise that if you release 6 specials in a year it’s not that special any more….
Profit over volume fully explains the ridiculous price of the 2025 V2 Pretendegale compared to its competition.
Is it just the fixings/bolts that have gone downhill in your opinion @Phill748 or the whole bike in general? Have to say as I don’t do a lot of my servicing etc I don’t notice too much. Surely a titanium screw set isn’t a lot of money if you’re spending 20k plus on a bike and I appreciate the same could be said either way. My neighbours v2 special was immaculate in my eyes (although very very new).
I wonder what the figures look like with servicing profits in mind considering the ever growing wait times to get a spot for any complex work at dealerships.
In rapido today, who in just have missed have stopped selling new bike and are now a service and performance centre, and seemed that many want to sell but not fix bikes. Which suits them and I think we can’t see others doing the same.
I’d imagine Cost of dealership development to meet standards. Large stocking loans taking up cash flow. High risk borrowing in this current climate where bike sales are down
I get that, but they run a BSB team. That costs a lot of money! also, I’m maybe a bit skeptical as they had my mates 748r in to service and get running right and they just didn’t seem interested at all, it came out still running like crap. His other one, wilf looked at back in 2018 and sorted it and it ran amazingly. So he’s not taking his bike there again. if your going to be a specialist you have to be nailing every job that comes through the door!
54k from 59k isn’t a huge change. Factor the vagaries of what happens at year ends, push more in the previous year to suit profit outcomes, or the opposite, they are all “managing” year end numbers one way or another so kind of meaningless unless you know all the back stories. No shame in wanting to make a profit though. Customers have a choice still and no one “needs” a Ducati , it’s luxury goods..
