Current Ducati CEO, Gabriele Del Torchio, is leaving the company to take up new professional challenges. Replacing him is Ducati General Manager and Member of the Board of Directors at Ducati Motor Holding, Claudio Domenicali.

Domenicali joined Ducati as a project leader in 1991. After passing through various management positions, he was promoted to Managing Director of Ducati Corse in 1999. In 2005, he took over as R&D Director and in 2009 was appointed General Manager Operations and Product Development. In 2012, he was confirmed as a member of the newly formed Board of Directors after the sale of Ducati Motor Holding to AUDI AG.

“Domenicali knows Ducati and the motorcycle business more than anyone. He embodies continuity and Ducati’s values in an exceptional manner,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ducati Motor Holding.

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Ducati is now officially property of Audi AG, with the German automaker finalizing its acquisition of the Italian motorcycle brand. The purchase was completed through Lamborghini S.p.A., another Audi property and part of the overall Volkswagen family.

Rupert Stadler, chief executive officer of Audi AG, has been named president of Ducati‘s new board of directors. Gabriele del Torchio, pictured above, will have a seat at the board and will remain as chief executive officer of Ducati Motor Holding and president of Ducati’s executive committee. Claudio Domenicali, Ducati’s general manager and head of its racing program, will also be a member of the new board of directors.

Also joining the board are Horst Glaser and Axel Strotbek from Audi AG. Del Torchio has also been appointed to the board of directors of Lamborghini, Ducati’s neighbor in Bologna, Italy. Continue Reading »

Audi AG Chief Executive Officer Rupert Stadler addressed Ducati‘s workforce in Bologna, Italy, for the first time to address his company’s impending acquisition of the motorcycle maker.

Joined by members of Ducati‘s management including President and CEO Gabriele Del Torchio, as well as Thomas Sigi, Audi’s head of human resources, Stadler met with Ducati’s entire workforce of nearly 1000 people to discuss the future of the company.

The address comes after the European Union granted its blessing to the acquisition. The transaction is expected to be completed over the next week, making Ducati officially part of Audi and the even broader Volkswagen Group which also includes brands such as Lamboghini and another recent acquisition, Porsche. Continue Reading »

Ducati announced a record 65,000 fans attended its World Ducati Week 2012 celebration, with fans from around the world gathering in the Misano Circuit to celebrate the Italian brand.

The record crowd took in the entertainment including test rides, live music and feted Ducati’s MotoGP and World Superbike racers. One highlight was the drag race featuring some of Ducati’s current racers and retired WSBK Champion Troy Bayliss.

Ducati Chief Executive Officer Gabriele Del Torchio chose the occasion to provide an update on the company’s business. Del Torchio announced a 12% growth in sales and 20% increase in revenue for Ducati in May, excellent news for Ducati’s new owner, Audi and the Volkswagen Group.

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The much anticipated 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale has entered serial production, with the Italian manufacturer celebrating the first unit to roll off the assembly line.

Staff gathered around to mark the beginning of production for Ducati‘s latest sportbike. Ducati President and Chief Excutive Officer Gabriele Del Torchio was joined by General Director Claudio Domenicali to watch as Plant Director Silvano Fini celebrated the first Panigale by showering it with sparkling wine.

Get more Ducati 1199 Panigale news and info at www.1199forums.com

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One of the world’s largest private collections of Ducati motorcycles is going on the auction block. Former Ducati factory test rider, racer and dealer Carlo Saltarelli is selling his collection of classic motorcycles at RM Auction‘s biennial auction in Monaco on May 11-12 during the Grand Prix of Monaco Historique.

Saltarelli’s collection includes 100 motorcycles including a 1970 ex-Works Ducati 450 Desmo Corsa which was featured in the Ducati museum in Bologna, Italy. Saltarelli’s collection also includes a 1990 Ducati 888 superbike ridden by Giancarlo Falappa and a number of 750SS race bikes from the ’70s such as a Ducati 750SS ridden by factory rider Franco Uncini in 1975, and a race-winning 1974 Ducati 750SS raced by Saltarelli.

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Here it is, the long-awaited and much-hyped 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale, unveiled just this morning as preparations are underway to begin the EICMA show in Milan all this week. The new flagship for Ducati was uncovered to the public alongside the entire 2012 range in a stylish press conference at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, Italy. Continue Reading »

The U.S.A. has become Ducati’s largest market, says Gabriele Del Torchio, Ducati Motor Holding president.

“We sell more bikes here in the United States now than we do in our domestic market. Only 20 percent of our bikes are sold in Italy, and 80 percent are exported,” Del Torchio said at a Ducati North America dealer meeting in Miami Beach.

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The word “Multistrada” is supposed to mean “many roads” in Italian. One man took the term literally, riding his Ducati Mulitstrada 1200S on a 62,000 mile trip around the world.

Paolo Pirozzi, the president of the Naples Ducati Dreams Club, is a self-proclaimed professional motorcyclist with over 280,000 miles logged on various Ducati motorcycles. All those miles were merely a warm-up for his latest trip, a round-the-world ride across five continents.

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Ducati President and Chief Executive Officer Gabriele del Torchio has a new company car: the new CLS 63 AMG from the performance arm of Mercedes-Benz, AMG.

AMG and Ducati, of course, formed a marketing partnership last November, including AMG being named the official car partner of Ducati’s factory MotoGP team. A side benefit from Ducati’s partnership with AMG, del Torchio gets to use the CLS 63  AMG four-door coupe as his company car. Ducati MotoGP racer Nicky Hayden also previously received his own CLS 63 AMG.

“I’m already looking forward to having fun at the wheel of the new CLS 63 AMG, which to me really seems to offer the perfect synthesis of power, elegance and efficiency,” says del Torchio. “We are working hard on the implementation of the first joint projects between AMG and Ducati.”

Full press release after the jump.

Related Reading
Ducati Partners With Mercedes’ AMG
2011 Ducati Diavel Review (Almost)
Nicky Hayden Interview
Ducati 848 EVO Appears in Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Commercial [Video]

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