Bologna, September 4, 2026 – Celebrating 100 years of Ducati, the Red of Borgo Panigale. Great satisfaction in Bologna which celebrates it in 5 exceptional places, but there is also a warning that leaves a bit of a bitter taste amid the general optimism.
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According to Volkswagen’s new 2030 plan, Ducati could be sold in whole or in part. Immediately therefore came the request from the president of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Michele de Pascale, to immediately activate a Roundtable on the future prospects of Ducati Motor Holding, to safeguard “one of the most well-known and prestigious expressions of Made in Italy in the world,” an integral part “of the industrial history of Bologna and Emilia-Romagna” as well as one of the symbols of our Motor Valley.
The future of Ducati: what happens with the Volkswagen group
On this occasion of celebration for the 100 years, therefore, there is also the need to talk about the future of the Red after the approval of the new 2030 Volkswagen plan, which holds part of the brand through Audi and Lamborghini. The German car manufacturer approved a document the other evening aimed at cutting costs to respond to the aggressive competition from Chinese manufacturers in Europe and China. In addition to cutting 100,000 employees, an unprecedented reduction in staff in recent history, the strategy involves reducing Volkswagen’s portfolio of holdings by about one third. The management would have in particular labeled as sellable, in whole or in part, 750 shares out of the more than 2,000 held by Volkswagen. The list would include Europcar, destined for stock market listing, and Ducati, which could be sold in whole or in part: the German group would have already begun notifying investment banks of management’s intention to enhance the Borgo Panigale motorcycle manufacturer.
“The company is healthy, solid and is living the best moment of its history – said Domenicali during today’s press conference in Bologna –. It is that industrial groups are complex and at this moment the automotive world in general is complicated. Volkswagen is a company with hundreds of thousands of employees, with hundreds of holdings: we do not have certain information to comment on, so we are not able to give further comments. I would still try to keep the focus on the fact that we have a company in the territory of great quality and great value to work together and try to give it another 100 years.”
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De Pascale: “Timely involvement of Italian institutions is appropriate”
After the arrival of these news about the Volkswagen group reorganization plan with rumors about possible hypotheses of sale or enhancement of Ducati, President de Pascale sent the request for a Roundtable, in a letter sent to the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso.
“Although these are information that are not currently officially confirmed by the Volkswagen group and which we therefore consider necessary to verify directly with the ownership – emphasizes de Pascale – the relevance of the rumors emerged in the context of a formally initiated reorganization process makes in our opinion timely involvement of the Italian institutions appropriate.”
For the President of the Region, Ducati “is not an industrial holding like the others,” but represents an excellent synthesis of manufacturing, innovation, design and industrial culture, enriched by a sporting dimension of extraordinary international prestige.
