All posts tagged Gabriele Del Torchio
Ducati production at risk after earthquake
The entire Emilia region of Italy that was hit by a 5.9 magnitude earthquake last Saturday which left seven dead (mostly workers on night shifts) 6500 people homeless and more than 13,000 people unable to return to their jobs in the vast industrial areas of Modena, Ferrara and Bologna due to the damages.
With the economic and euro crisis having already taken its toll on the country, the aftermath of the earthquake is having an effect in the production and distribution chain in numerous sectors, including Ducati’s. The Borgo Panigale factory luckily did not suffer any damages, but several of their local suppliers have and this could cause production to be disrupted, according Ducati’s CEO Gabriele Del Torchio.
“It’s difficult to predict the real impact of the earthquake, but we are very concerned,” said Del Torchio. “However, the pain takes precedence in this great tragedy. We’re in daily contact with our suppliers who have been affected by the earthquake: we work with a lot of companies in the area that was hit by the earthquake and it will have a major impact.”
For Ducati, the major problems stem from the collapse of the Scacchetti Foundry at San Felice sul Panaro (the epicenter of the quake) and the structure agibility problems that TMM of Finale Emilia, who produces exhaust systems for the Italian manufacturer, has.
Ducati uses a “just in time” (JIT) production strategy that reduces in-process inventory and associated carrying costs, and the disruption along the entire chain could have cause some dramatic problems in production. Some of the companies involved in earthquake will take months to recover and this makes the situation for Ducati virtually unpredictable. “Our men went there to check the situation” - continued Del Torchio - “in the coming days we will take stock of the situation and decide what to do. ”
Source | corriere.it via motoblog.it
Luca de Meo to become Ducati's new CEO?
With VW/Audi’s purchase of Ducati having now been officially confirmed (this is the third piece of Italy they’ve acquired after Lamborghini and Italdesign Giugiaro) Italian financial newspapers are now betting that there will be a high profile management shuffle at Borgo Panigale with the General Director or even the CEO being replaced.
Luca De Meo, the current Director of Marketing for the Volkswagen Group and former CEO of Fiat Automobiles Spa is the number one name that is currently being bandied around that could replace either Claudio Domenicali or Gabriele Del Torchio. The Italian manager was also behind Fiat sponsoring Yamaha in MotoGP from 2007 to 2010.
Believe it or not, but a big number of one-minded Italian Ducati MotoGP fans wouldn’t mind that Del Torchio - who has done an excellent job so far in bringing to the market and different new models and bettering overall sales in the recent years - being axed, as they believe he is responsible for ruining the MotoGP team by letting Casey Stoner leave and hiring a ‘has-been’ like Valentino Rossi, while closing down the factory World Superbike team.
Source | motoblog.it
Gabriele del Torchio: "It's too early to talk about divorce"
Ducati has finally decided to react following Valentino Rossi’s Qatar post-race comments and the person to do it is none other than Gabriele Del Torchio, the President of Ducati.
While Investindustrial and Ducati are working on the sale of the company to Volkswagen Group, which supposedly will be announced on April 18th, Del Torchio has decided to speak up and temporarily put to bed all those rampant rumors from both the Italian and Spanish press, that the two parties are filing for ‘divorce’ and that Rossi may not see out 2012 season after throwing the current GP12 and Ducati under the proverbial bus.
“His contract expires at year end,” said the President. “In the meantime there are 17 other races. We continue to trust in him and the work that the engineer Preziosi is doing,” and he believes that Rossi words were born from a moment of frustration and ‘discouragement’ adding that “we are only at the beginning of the season and I’m sure that Valentino will get over it. To tell the truth when you’re racing for a historic brand like Ducati you have to accept that there can joy and bitterness, and in Qatar there was bitterness.”
Despite completely changing the Ducati and having seen some potential in the GP12, it still has problems, Del Torchio said “Engineering work takes time and now we have to work on sorting the bike out,” and despite the fact that Nicky Hayden took 6th the CEO said, “It was good result, but it certainly isn’t what we want, we race to win”.
For those saying that Rossi and Ducati are going through a trial separation, Del Torchio jokingly said, “At least we’re still living under the same roof,” and confirmed the roles, “We make the bikes and he is the rider, those are two different jobs.”
Source | repubblica.it
Ducati awarded by the British Government
During the 5th edition of the ‘UKâITALY Business Awards’ - that took place yesterday in Milan - the British Government and the UK Trade Investment (UKTI) have given Ducati the prestigious ‘Brand Recognition Award’, a further acknowledgement of Ducati’s status as one of the most successful Italian brands in the world.
The ceremony took place at the Palazzo di Mezzanotte, home of Italy’s main stock exchange, where HM Consul General and Director General for Trade & Investment, Mr. Vic Annels, handed the prize in the hands of Ducati Motor Holding’s President, Mr. Gabriele Del Torchio (pictured right and left respectively). Curiously enough, the award comes in the same week that saw Ducati UK announcing that in 2011 they had their best sales result since 2003, thereby marking a significant growth of the brand within the British market.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Del Torchio stated: “I am very proud to receive this award on behalf of everyone at Ducati, a prize that recognizes the value of a brand as loved and respected in the United Kingdom as in the rest of world. Ducati is achieving important and significant results in this country, in terms of both sales and image, and this is a reward to our products and to our strategic management.” Mr.Vic Annels also commented: “We are happy to award Ducati with the Brand Recognition Award and we are honoured that such an outstanding and innovative brand has decided to increase its investments in the United Kingdom. Ducati boasts a long and successful racing history in our country, and we are pleased to see that this fact is mirrored by its commercial policy.”
Gabriele del Torchio: "2011 was a record year for Ducati"
Gabriele Del Torchio, President of Ducati Motor Holding confirmed once again that 2011 was record year for the Italian manufacturer during yesterday’s press conference at the Wrooom event.
“We’ve grown 21,5%,” said Del Torchio. “These numbers are consolidated and we’ve done well worldwide and we’ve sold 42.200 motorcycles, it was the best year in our history. 80% of our production is exported. The U.S. is our number one market , followed by Italy and Germany with a 31% increase. In France we sold 4,100 thousand motorcycles and in the Far East a + 84%. We didn’t lay off any workers. In 2008 and 2009 instead of cutting down on investments we invested on new bikes and strategic alliances that helped us promote our brand. We understood that in Italy things weren’t going well and that we’d better look at other markets and this helped us have a great 2011 and hope for a better 2012.
Gabriele Del Torchio: "Valentino Rossi remains our choice for the future"
Valentino Rossi said he’d like another two year contract and he may get his wish as Ducati’s CEO Gabriele Del Torchio still believes in him.
“Valentino Rossi remains our choice for the future,” said Del Torchio during today’s press conference at the 2012 Wrooom. “The goal is to be competitive. We’ll discuss contract renewal in 2012, but now it’s too soon. But the tendency is to confirm Nicky Hayden and Valentino.”
“I’m absolutely certain that 2012, despite the difficulties will be a good year,” he continued. “Filippo and his team have worked very hard and are doing miracles. We don’t have the financial resources that our Japanese competitors have, but the intelligence is there, the desire to do well also and the bike is promising, and I suggest that you listen carefully to Filippo tomorrow.”
Ducati's Gabriele Del Torchio: "Rossi lacked the C factor"
President of Ducati Motor Holding Gabriele Del Torchio was at the Bologna Motor Show today to present the 1199 Panigale and in the usual press conference the Italian manager touched several bases, including the fact that 2011 has been the company’s best year for sales with an increase of over 30%, with North America being their best market followed by Italy and Germany and expects 2012 to be even better, despite a very lagging domestic market (and you can bet it is going to get even worse ).
Del Torchio also talked about Ducati’s GP team and Valentino Rossi commenting that Rossi lacked a bit of luck - actually, he said Rossi lacked “il fattore C” - which in Italian slang means “culo” or ass - and is an idiomatic expression meaning luck.
“It was a year of getting to know each other,” said Del Torchio. “We had to learn Valentino’s riding style and he had to get to know us. We did a great job. Last year we lacked what Napoleon used to say was a key factor for his generals, the C factor. We had a lot of bad luck. Next year I think will be better, the new bike is very ‘interesting’. Winter testing was encouraging and we’re keeping our fingers crossed. I think it will be a very competitive season.”
Maybe Ducati was missing the ‘C factor’ in 2011, but they we’re definitely missing a certain rider whose first name starts with a C.
Source | ilrestodelcarlino.it
Del Torchio nixes Ducati maxi scooter and scrambler in the making
Speculation that Ducati would soon be making a maxi scooter and a scrambler have been growing over the last year or so and just last week Ducati’s Claudio Domenicali in an interview with Motosprint.com, confirmed that the Italian company was seriously thinking about it, but now Ducati’s head honcho Gabriele Del Torchio has nixed it.
Speaking to our Italian cousins at Motoblog.it during the Moto Passion bike show, Del Torchio stated that the company “has a well defined range and now we are concentrating on our next project for the sports market and on Superbikes, we’re not thinking of new models. That’s our industrial production plan for the next 3 to 5 years, and we have no maxi scooter in mind, and certainly not a scrambler. “
Do we actually believe Del Torchio? Nope. Ducati isn’t dishing out a few millions of euros to build plants in Thailand and Brazil just to get around import taxes and and concentrate on selling 20,000 more sportbikes or the Diavel in expanding markets.
Italians do it better, at least Ducati's CEO thinks so
With the economic crisis still not showing any sign of improvement, and Belgium now joining the ever growing list of European countries who are hit by debts, and motorcycle/scooter mad Italy with a -24,2% sales decrease in 2010, Ducati is still holding it’s own during these last three difficult years, with sales and exports up.
Ducati, may be small motorcycle manufacturers, but according to CEO
Here’s what he had to say:
Continue reading: Italians do it better, at least Ducati's CEO thinks so
Ducati to open a factory in Thailand, Italian workers worried
The Ducati Motor Holding company is not immune to globalization and expanding to new and larger markets and after decades of working solely in Italy, has decided to open a new facility in Thailand (work will start in the next few days).
The company will delocalize the final assembly stage of their motorcycles destined for the Asian markets in order to get around high import duties and taxes.
Italian unions and the local regional government are worried that this may be the first step in cutting down on the work force and closing down the Bologna factory with dire consequences also to the rest of the production chain, have asked for guarantees that this won’t happen.
Gabriele Del Torchio, Ducati’s CEO said he had no comment on the question, but according to Giancarlo Muzzarelli, the regional counciller for productive activities, who met with Del Torchio on Tuesday, said that Ducati has confirmed that they are going ahead with the Asian plant, while they have no intention of decreasing their presence on Italian territory.
Del Torchio left for Thailand on Wednesday to oversee the start of the new production unit, while further discussions will take place in January.
Source | repubblica.it via motoblog.it
Unions blame Valentino Rossi for Ducati Soap War
If you’ve ordered a Ducati from your local dealer and still haven’t received it, you may want to put the blame on future Ducati rider Valentino Rossi for the delivery delay.
This absurd story is currently happening at the Ducati factory in Bologna, where the management has asked their employees to give up their habitual ten minute hand washing break in the name of an increased labour productivity.
Historically, Ducati factory workers have always had this 10 minute break; five minutes before their lunch break they stop working to wash off dirt and grease and five minutes before heading home at the end of the day, but Ducati management has put a stop to this and it’s resulted in protests and half hour strikes from workers, backed by their unions who say that Ducati has no right to renege this privilege, that’s even specified in their collective contract.
Continue reading: Unions blame Valentino Rossi for Ducati Soap War
Two Ducati Multistrada's delivered to Pope Benedict XVI
Two Ducati Multistrada 1200’s were delivered to Pope Benedict XVI today at the Pope’s summer home at Castel Gandolfo.
The two motorcycles donated by Ducati, will be used by the Vatican gendarmerie and have been customized for police use and the livery is based on the white and yellow colors of the Vatican flag.
The ceremony was attended by Carlo Bonomi, Andrea Bonomi (Investindustrial CEO) and Gabriele Del Torchio (Ducati ’s CEO) who had the honor of giving the keys of the two bikes personally to the Holy Father.
Source | repubblica.it
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