Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1524627
P106 INTERVIEW I GENERAL MANAGER, MV AGUSTA NORTH AMERICA, LUCA DOVESI the first flagship store in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, which was for us a big milestone, as you can imagine. All that we want represented is within that store. We have an owner who is passionate about the brand, the people that can come there, and to experience a very Italian feeling regarding environment and the space. That is our first milestone that for us set the standard moving forward. Will that be something you're going to replicate in other flagship states? I would love to, but first of all, I don't think we should have a flagship store in every state of the country—only where it makes sense from perception. You can try. You can buy. These are the people we want to reach. What have been the first steps that you've had to take with that? You've got the new store in L.A. that opened up recently. Yes. The first step started in late 2022 when we decided to rebuild the network. That was the first mission that we took, making sure all the partners were aligned on the new scope of the project, on the new pace that KTM was bringing to the brand, new procedures, and new processes. We reset all the network. So that was step one. You need a very good distribu - tion. We did a lot in 2023, that I want to say we concluded with little bit better managed. It was more centralized, so people still were appreciating the brand, rid - ing it, and buying it. But here, we were very disconnected. MV Agusta is a smaller player in a much bigger market, correct? Yes. I think this is one of the biggest challenges—fixing the bad reputation that the brand had in the past from an opera - tional side. Luckily, the brand itself has been strong for the people who know it. They still appreciate and love it. They know what MV Agusta repre - sents. They know the singularity of the design and all the fea- tures. Thank God, at least, we still have a good brand. It has a lot of great history with it, too. Yes, absolutely. However, our job is to make sure a new generation of riders get to know the brand and understand it is accessible. You can touch it. From left: MV Agusta Deputy CEO and Managing Director Luca Martin, Chief Executive Officer Hubert Trunkenpolz, and Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director Filippo Bassoli, all are part of the new KTM restructuring of MV Agusta. Sixteen-year-old Aiden Sneed (98) leads his international teammate, Roberto Tamburini in MotoAmerica Supersport in a venture headed by Melissa Paris.