Ducati continues to move from strength to strength, and it's clearly not keen to close the throttle any time soon. In 2021, the team from Borgo Panigale sold a total of 59,447 bikes, which represented a 24 percent increase over its 2020 sales, which in turn were a 12 percent improvement over its 2019 sales.
In 2022, though, Ducati finally cracked the high water mark of 60,000 bikes sold. Impressively, the firm ended the year having delivered a total of 61,562 bikes into new owner hands for the first time in Ducati's entire history. To follow up that performance, it started 2023 with a strong Q1, delivering 14,725 new bikes to customers in the first three months of the year. That's a nine percent increase over the same period in 2022.
How do you keep things moving forward, if you're Ducati? On July 5, 2023, the company announced a new partnership with Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution, scheduled to begin in 2024. With the exception of the Canary Islands, the new deal will see Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution take over Ducati's commercial efforts throughout Spain and Portugal as of January 1, 2024.
To celebrate, Ducati and the VGSD team hosted an event in Madrid that included executives from both groups, representatives from both automobile and motorcycle manufacturer associations Anfac and Anesdor, and of course a selection of journalists. Ducati also brought a number of its bikes along for the event, and also recreated the Correntaio curve at Mugello within the event space.
"Working with Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution will give us the opportunity to create a relationship even closer with our fans in Spain and Portugal, thanks to the company's strong presence in the market, the talent of its team and the innovation and digitization of its services," Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali said at the press conference.
As you may recall, Ducati is part of the larger Volkswagen Group. It's an organization that also includes Skoda, Seat, Cupra, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Porsche. For over 20 years prior to this announcement, Ducati's Spanish and Portuguese market distribution was handled by Desmotron, another importer. Domenicali took the opportunity to thank Desmotron for their partnership over the past decades at this event, as well.
What will the future hold for Ducati? Unfortunately, our crystal ball is in the shop at the moment, but we'll be sure to keep you updated with news as it arises.
