Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

NIII Agusfa's Claudio Casfiglioni together through good times and bad and know they may count on my support to see them through. To find out the hard way that one branch of this family no longer believes in such loyalty is sad, but a relief especially as we have been able to immediately replace Macchi with an engineer of the caliber of Romano Albesiano, whose track record speaks for itself (designer of the race-winning Cagiva 500 GP bikes, later development engineer for MV's F4 and the Cagiva Raptor family - AC). He is already bringing fresh ideas to Husqvarna's technical development which will revitalise the range of products we offer to our customers, because it's true that Husqvarna has marked time during the past year or so - even though we still nevertheless won three Riders' World Championships in 2002, and four Manufacturers' world titles! But the renewed vigor which now characterizes our company will ensure that, in the next three years, Husqvarna will achieve great things on the world stage. This is a personal promise from me, Claudio Castiglioni - after what I've personally endured during the past two years, the rebirth of our company has Centenario enduro model designed by Miguel Galluzzi, probably fitted with the 510cc engine, which will be handbuilt with many special parts - carbon fiber bodywork, magnesium crankcases, many components milled from solid, etc. This will go on sale in September and will be the most beautiful and desirable, as well as the most functional, offroad bike ever built. For Cagiva's 25th birthday, on the other hand, we are planning something equally special - by constructing a limited edition of 25 exact replicas of the last 500cc Cagiva Grand Prix motorcycle! This is the only European machine to have defeated the Japanese in 500cc Grand Prix racing, which went to Japan for the third race of the year in 1994 leading the World Championship and ended up third overall at the end of the season. These will be identical copies of the machines raced by Chandler and Kocinski, down to the last titanium bolt and carbonfiber shroud, and will be built in the race shop here at Schiranna by the men who created and raced them a decade ago. They will, of course, be fully given me and our other key employees an incredible motivation. Wait and see! You mentioned earlier that 2003 is Husqvarna's 100th birthday - a fact many have overlooked in the midst of all the PR spin about HarleyDavidson's centenary, which they even started celebrating one year early! What are you doing to commemorate Husqvarna's century of existence? In fact, we have two milestone anniversaries to celebrate this year: Husqvarna's 1DOth, which commemorates an incredible blend of street and offroad production, dirtbike and Grand Prix road racing, and Cagiva's 25th birthday, which acknowledges an exactly similar history, but in one-quarter of the time span. For Husqvarna, we are planning a series of parties at the end of the summer in different countries - these are not road bikes, which we can expect our customers to ride to the factory here in Varese for one big commemoration! - which will allow our customers to celebrate the occasion with us, and we will also manufacture 1000 examples of a special ful to our company. At present we have 370 employees, but we'll be hiring another 120 before the end of this year, then another 200 more during 2004, as we gradually build up again to full production. We'll end up with a total workforce of just under 700 people once we're working normally, at full pitch. Okay, so let's turn now to the future. When do you plan to restart production? We already recommenced manufacture of Husqvarna two-strokes at the end of January, followed by 680 more bikes, mainly four-strokes, in February. Because the off-road market is more immediate at this time of year, we are focusing to begin with on these models and will manufacture a total of 15,000 Husqvarnas in 2003, including 1000 examples of a Centenario model to commemorate the marque's 1DOth birthday this year. But we restarted MV Agusta production on February 14 with the first of 3800 bikes we will construct by the end of December - including the Brutale Serie d'Oro, which will enter manufacture in March. That's when we will also restart building the Cagiva Raptor and Navigator, up to a total of 4900 bikes of all types bearing the Cagiva badge, for 2003. We aim to manufacture a total of just under 24,000 motorcycles this calendar year, the same number as we built in 2000, and for all of which we have firm orders from our dealers and importers around the world, so that they are effectively presold before leaving the assembly line. This will provide us with the basis for further expansion in 2004. When will the "normale" Brutale enter production - and how much will it cost? We will begin manufacturing it in April, and the projected list price here in Italy is Euro 14,000 (about £9,000/$14,000 - AC), plus OTR charges. But we have a problem here: we have firm orders from around the world for more than 6000 examples of the Brutale S, but this year we can only produce 1700 units. I know this is going to cause disappointment and frustration, but it's the best we can do under the strict financial budget we're operating to, and which we intend to follow to the letter. Although we could sell our entire production here in Italy, we're going to make sure that all our importers are fairly treated in this respect - we will sell 25 percent of our annual production here in Italy, with 75 percent exported and a special emphasis on the American market, which we intend to support to our maximum potential via our importers, the Ferracci family (as in Eraldo Ferracci, the Ducati Superbike tuning guru, and his son Larry - AC). PresumablY all this is on a single-shift basis? How about going to a double-shift system at your Cassinetta factory to ramp up production with your existing facilities? No, we won't be doing that on the assembly line, only on the engine manufacturing plant here at Schiranna. However, in 2004 we anticipate being able to increase production substantially, in light of the extra workers our business plan will allow us to hire. Let's examine the future of your three marques in turn, starting with Husqvarna. The recent loss of its chief development engineer Macchi and his entire R&D team, who are now working on Aprilia's forthcoming off-road range, casts a shadow over your ability to maintain the continued excellence of Husqvarna products. What's your response to that? Every cloud has a silver lining - in this sense. I have personally made it my policy never to poach technicians or designers away from rival companies, which is why we have such a loyal workforce here, who respect that we are a family which lives capable of being used on the track, if someone wishes to experience what it's like to ride one, or else they can be simply placed on display and admired for the quality of their design and manufacture. They won't be cheap - we don't have a price yet - but when we build them from September this year onwards, this will be the chance for 25 enthusiasts who have always dreamed of owning a works 500cc Grand Prix racer to finally do so, as a means of commemorating the 25th birthday of the company which created them. sounds a great opportunity for those with deep pockets - but maybe you better think about providing parts backup for customers who'll want to race them! Speaking of which, what plans do you have to go racing in the future, especially with MV Agusta? With Husqvarna, we will intensify our existing involvement, competing in every off-road category at world level in 2003 - so, four factory-supported riders in each of Motocross, Supermoto and Q A Q Q A 32 APRIL 2. 2003' cue • .. n _ vv s Q A

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