Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Feature Inside Husqvarna most was Husqvarna. When supplies of components were held back, assem bly of Husqvama d irt bikes virtually gro und to a halt through J996, much to the chagrin of Husqvarna distribu tors, dealers and most importantly, cus tomers, worldwide. "In 1996 production dropped fro m 12,000 pieces to just 4000 pieces for Husqvarna," Bianchi exp lains, "and this meant real problems, The biggest problem was spare parts, as this service jus t was not available." In an effort to stave the wolves from the door, a serious cash injec tion was requi red . "So the Castiglioni fami ly decided to sell 50 percent of Ducati in 1996 (to the Ame rica n foreign investment com pa ny Texas Pacific Gro up) , and then sold the remaining shares in J 998," Bianchi says , "This put fresh cas h into the company. The fa m ily .w as not invol ve d 100 per cen t with the Ducat i bu siness, plu s they we re a lready very involve d with the new MV Agusta bus iness that was very important to them." Wit h cred ito rs s at isfied, it's fu ll steam a head o nce again with the Castiglioni clan. By Andrew Clubb hile Hu sq vama might be one of the oldest motor cycle man u factu rers still acti ve tod ay th e brand wa s fo un ded in 1903 - in recent years the marque has been virtually dormant in the United States. Severe d istribution and supply problems co m b ine d to erode Husq varna' s once -do mina n t positi on as a lead in g enduro brand, leaving the flow of bik es coming into the country a virtua l trickle. Now, ho w e ver, the It a lian-owned and based brand is det ermin ed to see things change . Should all go to plan, the yea r 2000 will see a dramati c rise in the Husqvar na pro fil e in th e Un ited States . New nati ona l m ot o cr os s, s u p er cross a nd G NCC race tea ms are just th e begin ning, com plime nting a far more concerted marketing, promoti on al and d ealer a nd custo me r s u p po rt p ro g~am bei ng coord ina te d throu gh Ll.S. d istributor Erald o Ferra cci. The push stems from the new fou nd stability and financia l security once agai n bei ng afforded th e Hu sq varna b ra nd by its owne rs, the Ita lian Castiglio ni family, foun ders of the Ita lian Cagiva brand. ind us try, th e Ca st igli on is la u n ch e d headlong int o their new found motorcycle "em pire." In 1984, the Cagiva grou p purchased the Italian Ducati brand . In 1986 it purch a s ed H u s q varna, m ovin g t h e legendary Swedis h marque lock, stock and barrel to Ital y, in ci rc u msta n ces th a t eve ntua lly sa w several key Husq varna techn ical s taff remain in Sw eden a nd crea te Husaberg . In 1986 the Ca giva gro up also purchased Moto Morini. And ma rket, and because we are a mot orcvcl e co m p a ny, we d id n o t foll o w th e scooter market, while other bran ds such as April ia d id - very successfully. "Unfo r tu na te ly, Morin i w as not a good inves tme nt. The compa ny wa s so busy wi th Duca ti, Cagi va and Husqvar na, that Morini d id not receive proper att enti on ," With the fiscal screws tightened, suppliers to the Cagiva gro up started calling in their markers, and the brand to suffer HISTORY LESSON 0> 0> 0> . ~ .. .<:I E C. en 32 Passion ate motorcycle enthusiasts Gia nfra nco and Clau d io Castiglioni formed Cagiva (the "ca" stands for CAstiglioni , the "gi" sig nifies their fa ther ' s nam e, Glan fra n co, whil e t he "va" den otes VA rese , th e tow n in Ita ly w he re th eir mach ines are prod uced ) in lat e 1978, after purchasing the Varese factory and rem a ining s to ck wh en AMF H arl eyDavid son bailed out of a joint ag reeme nt with post-war motorcycle manufacturer Aermacchi, which had in tum used the factory on the shores of Lake Varese just north of Milan to build float-planes and hydro-p lanes during Wor ld War II. The Castiglionis rebadged those first Aermacc hi 125 and 250cc tw o-strokes as Cagivas, and thus a new Italian marque was born. Alrea dy w ealth y fr om num erou s other bu sin ess int er ests, high lighted by su ccess in th e s m a ll m et a l fa s teners th en, in 1991 , the g roup secu re d the rights to the MV Agusta name. The Cas tiglio nis ha d a p o ten tially ' lucra tive po rtfolio that augured well for the Italian familv. Ind eed , Ducati alone was a success story, the Castiglionis lifting production from 4000 uni ts per year when they bou ght it, to so me 20,000 units in 1996. But while the Ducati marque was th rivin g, the sa me cou ld n' t be sa id for other sectors of the Cagiv a empire. LISTEN AND LEARN "By 1996, the com pany had becom e so big, th at ther e we re in fact so me mi stakes wi th so me mod els," explains Cagiva's marketing a nd promo tion s chief, Mart ino Bianchi , "A t tim es we did not list en to th e (Top) Year 2000 Husqvarnas ready for delivery. (Above) Martino Bianch i heads Cagiva's marketing and promotions department. (Right) A Husky TE awaits final assembly on the production line. FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS The past 12 months have seen a ma jor sta bili za tion of th e Cagi va g ro u p , in whic h Husq varn a has becam e a so lidmoney s p in ner for th e co m pany, th e Cag iva brand is in the pr ocess of being relau nched , and the stu nning new MV Ag us ta road-burner has been grabbing headl ines all aro u nd the wo rld . Last December, a multi-million lire refurbishment of the ori g ina l Vares e eng ine production plant was init iated, wh il e a d d itio nal pl a nts a t n e arby Morazzon e (for fram e pr oduction , and the gro u p's d esign and sty ling center) and Cassine tta (for final ass em bly of "II brands and spare parts stocks) were also brough t into op er ation . A limited -edit ion run o f ju s t 300 handmade MV Agusta Oro (Gold ) specia ls h ave already been pre-sol d a t a coo l 70 million lire a piece. So me 2590 Stra da "prod uction" MV Agu stas are on target for pr od uction next yea r, and set to roll off showroo m floo rs a t 30 million lire eac h . Right no w , jus t fo u r Oro engines are produced eac h day, with the bikes then asse mbled by hand on a special short line at the Cassi nctta factory. Th e d e li ci ou s MV Ag us ta is t he hand iwor k of Massimo Tam bo rini, who also d esigned the Duca ti 916, and who co ntinues to head th e Cagi va gro u p 's sty ling d epartmen t a lon gside Mr. Gal-

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