After the news that the Benelli Due 756 would finally be produced and released came out last week, the Italian brand has released a clarification in response to the news that hit the interwebs. Confirming that the Due would indeed become a production model (after making the rounds at motorcycle shows for the better part of the last five years), the Chinese owned Benelli Q.J. released a statement saying that the release date would not be the end of 2011 as some sites had reported, but instead at the end of 2012 (seemingly making this a 2013 model year motorcycle).
Benelli has not outright denied that the news that the Due will hit the Chinese market before it makes its way to Europe, though the Chinese company was quick to say in its statement that ”the current version of the Due will be produced in Italy and exported to China and the emerging global markets (without neglecting the European market).” Cryptically we gather that means that the Due we’ve seen will be a world model, while an updated version is slated to hit the European market at some point in the future (2018 perhaps?).
The release of the clarification from Benelli is an interesting one, as few, if any, major publications were stating that the Benelli Due would be out in 2011…which makes sense there were about 14 days left in the year at that point in the news cycle. However, the clarification that the release would be at the end of the 2012 is an interesting development, as it puts the Benelli Due almost an entire year out from its consumer debut at this point in time.
The fact that Benelli Q.J. is targeting China and emerging economies is no surprise to us, especially given the fact that the company is Chinese-owned and has easy access to these growing and important motorcycle markets. Equally unsurprising is the announcement that Benelli will be updating the Due’s design at a later date for the European market. While the relative obscurity of the machine has helped preserve the freshness of its six-year-old design, a revamping of its look and feature set still seems like a prudent move by the Italian brand.
Benelli Due 756 Photos circa EICMA 2009:
Source: Benelli; Photos: © 2009 Jensen Beeler / Asphalt & Rubber – Creative Commons – Attribution 3.0
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Release only at the END of 2012 (if the world hasn’t ended by then)? Too little too late. Everything else – the market, the competition, the whole ICE vs ebike game, my interest in this bike…etc. – would have moved on by then.
I was so looking forward to this when it was first shown to the press – but with the MV Agusta B3 and the new 2013 Triumph Street Triple vying for my attention, not sure if this Benelli would still look fresh and interesting after a another whole year.
They should get in touch with Honda and ask them to teach’em how to build a proper decent looking under-belly muffler. Just saying…(^_^)
Or is the headlight the real fly on the ointment here ? I think they were locked on a race with Voxan trying to raise the bar by who made the most hideous headlights ? Here … u be the judge … http://future-motorcycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/2010-voxan-nefertiti-bike.jpg
Yup, i heard the same at Motoblog.it but on Italian…Windows translator was being a little biotch this morning…good thing Spanish and Italian are more less similar…(^_^)
As with volvo, benelli is now permanently off my list of potential purchases. I will never buy any goods from that slave state.