For plenty of motorcycle and powersports manufacturers, 2024 was a year to forget, financially speaking. KTM all but imploded, and the cost-saving measures employed by Polaris are bleeding into 2025. So how, then, in the midst of all this, did Piaggio Group—owner of Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi, Gilera, Scarabeo brands—manage to post record margins, despite an "anomalous" economy?
Italy's Piaggio reported an annual core profit margin of 16.9%, which, according to the manufacturer, is its highest ever. But the company didn't achieve this by riding a wave of good fortune. In fact, Piaggio accomplished this in the face of adversity.
The company had a 12% fall in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, which in absolute terms amounts to €286.7 million ($302.4 million). So you'd think recording a record high would be completely unimaginable, but apparently it's all down to productivity management.
CEO, Michele Colaninno, had this to say in a statement, "The Piaggio Group achieved excellent margins in 2024 thanks to careful management of productivity in a highly anomalous economic situation,"
As I mentioned earlier, some manufacturers are still cutting costs as a result of a poor financial performance in 2024. But Colaninno maintains that Piaggio will have an even better financial year in 2025. She said, "2025 will be characterised by many variables but at the same time it will show an improvement compared with last year,"
I think it's important to put what Piaggio did into perspective. In a world where KTM managed to acquire nearly $3 billion in debt, and keep it somewhat under wraps for a while, but ultimately implode and send shockwaves through the motorcycle and racing industries, Piaggio turned a loss into a win by simply employing good productivity management.
It's fantastic to see a manufacturer coming out of 2024 not just with profit, but with record profit. Hat tip to Piaggio.
