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What the Future Looks Like for Norton Motorcycles

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While the year 2020 will be known almost exclusively for something else, for Norton Motorcycles the year marks a key point in the brand’s 100+ year history.

It is the year that the British marque collapsed in on itself, with accusations of fraud and mismanagement, and was then bought by India’s TVS Motor. The full history of the brand is still being learned and written in its most current chapters, but our eyes are already turning to the future of Norton Motorcycles.

Talking about his company’s acquisition of the Norton, Sudarshan Venu (Joint Managing Director of TVS Motor) has already given us some indication on what to expect.

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Official: India’s TVS Motor Buys Norton Motorcycles

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It has been a long sad road for Norton Motorcycles lately, and we apologize for not covering the complete debacle that has unfolded from this historic British marque.

That being said, it is hard to condense what has happened to Norton in the past few months, as well as the accusations that have been levied at the company’s CEO Stuart Garner; but cutting to the point, the company has gone bankrupt, which has lead to allegations of the mishandling of funds and even of fraud.

Now after a week of rumors regarding a pending sale, on Friday we got confirmation that Norton Motorcycles has been sold to TVS Motors, the third-largest two-wheeled manufacturer in India, with a price tag of $20 million.

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The Italian Connection: Brembo Buys a Portion of Pirelli

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Call it the Italian connection, as brake-maker Brembo has just bought a chunk of shares in Pirelli. As such, the move sees Brembo taking a 2.43% in the Italian tire brand.

Despite the surprise of the headline, the transaction has not a complete surprise to those following the actions of Brembo, as the braking brand announced last year its plans to go shopping in the corporate M&A realm.

Matteo Tiraboschi, Brembo’s Executive Deputy Chairman, even signaled last year that the the company’s appetite for acquisition could be as large Brembo itself.

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News

Ari Henning & Zack Courts Move to RevZilla

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Ever since it was quietly made known that Ari Henning and Zack Courts, along with Spenser Robert, would be leaving the MotorTrend family, and their two-season-old show Throttle Out, we have been wondering where the trio would land…and now we know.

Announcing that they have joined the content and media team at Comoto (which was recently in the news for its acquisition of J&P Cycles), the move sees Courts, Henning, and Robert staying in Los Angeles and starting Comoto’s first West Coast office.

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The Borg Collective Continues to Grow, As Comoto Buys J&P Cycles

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The Borg collective that is Comoto Holdings continues to assimilate large brands into its collective of retail enterprises for the motorcycle industry. No, not familiar with the name Comoto?

Surely though you have heard of – if not shopped at – the companies that Comoto controls, as it is the holding company for RevZilla and Cycle Gear, and it is also now the new business entity that owns J&P Cycles.

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It’s True, Kawasaki Buys (Some of) Bimota

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The rumors turned out to be true at EICMA: Kawasaki has bought the iconic Italian brand Bimota. Well…technically, the business transaction is a little bit more complex than that.

It was Italian Motorcycle Investment S.p.A. (IMI) that actually bought a 49.9% stake in Bimota S.A., with IMI being an investment arm created by Kawasaki Motors Europe, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Got all that?

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KTM Takes Over GasGas – Purchases 60% of Shares

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Remember that day when KTM bought a struggling dirt bike brand? No, we’re not talking about Husqvarna again, because today Stefan Pierer and his team acquired 60% of the shares of Spanish dirt bike marque GasGas.

The acquisition is actually an interesting one between KTM and GasGas’s owner, Black Toro Capital, as it sees the Austrian conglomerate “partnering” with its Spanish counterpart, primarily on electric dirt bikes.

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Rumors

Has Kawasaki Bought Bimota?

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Rumors out of Italy are suggesting that Kawasaki Heavy Industries has bought the Bimota motorcycle brand and its intellectual property.

We first saw the report on this news at the respected GPOne website, though details on the transaction remain virtually non-existent, with a press conference on the news expected in the coming days.

If true, this information is truly interesting, as it will likely set off a firestorm of speculation regarding what Kawasaki could want with the defunct boutique Italian motorcycle brand.

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Products

Shark Acquires the Nolan Helmet Brand

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Today we report some more business movement in the helmet space, as the French brand Shark has acquired the Italian brand Nolan.

The transaction actually involves the two brands parent companies, 2Ride Holding Group (Shark, Bering, Ségura, Bagster, and Cairn) and the Nolan Group (Nolan , Grex, and X-lite helmets), with the French business unit buying its Italian counterpart.

The acquisition sets up a strong European house of brands in the motorcycle industry, which should be positioned well to compete against other players like Alpinestars and Dainese/AGV with head-to-toe protection.

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Volkswagen Restructuring Plan Gets Union Support, But What Does It Mean for Ducati?

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On Tuesday, the Volkswagen Group struck a major deal with its union-back workforce, which will see the German automotive conglomerate begin a new restructuring plan.

The linchpin for the restructuring plan is a €1 billion commitment to make a new battery factory for future electric vehicle models, which will be located in Lower Saxony.

This is important because Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess has been on a mission to slim down the VW Group, but his workforce, more specifically its labor unions, have been resistant to this change, as it would inevitably mean fewer jobs for its labor force.

Now with a substantial commitment to create jobs in the battery cell production space, VW’s labor unions are more amenable to the idea of trimming VW’s non-core businesses, which has some big implications.

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