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BRP Buys Parts of Alta Motors, Has No Plans to Restart Production

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In a terse press release this morning, Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) announced that it has acquired select assets of Alta Motors’ parent company Faster-Faster, Inc.

Those assets include “certain intellectual property, patents and some limited physical assets from the former all-electric motorcycle design and manufacturing company,” to put it in BRP’s words.

BRP plans to use these assets as part of its ongoing research into electric and hybrid drives for recreational vehicles, and hopes that the technology will help jumpstart its own efforts for electric transportation products.

The Canadian company is very quick to point out, however, that BRP has no interest in restarting operations of Alta Motors and assumes no liabilities.

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Dirt

Let’s Talk About a Different Kind of Ducati Acquisition

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“We have to look which is the best ownership for Ducati. Either we find a way forward for Ducati, which provides some growth, some probably additional brands, or we have to look for new ownerships...I wouldn’t exclude that.”

Ever since Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said those words, I have been perseverating on their meaning. Many in the industry have taken Herr Diess to mean that Ducati is once again for sale, and that Ducati's time within Audi AG is coming to an end.

As Diess says himself, we can't exclude that possibility. But, what about the part of his statement that proceeds that notion?

How does one make Ducati Motor Holding more profitable? More sustainable? Better suited for the trends we are seeing in the motorcycle industry? In the changing world that transportation is facing?

How does the Italian company fit into all those questions marks, and more? This is the thought that has been burning a hole on my notepad recently, and I keep coming back to Diess' thought that Ducati should have some additional brands.

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News

KTM Wants to Buy Ducati

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The future of Ducati seems to be always up in the air, especially with Volkswagen AG’s constant back-and-forth when it comes to selling the motorcycle brand.

The German’s latest attempt to sell Ducati may have faltered in the boardroom, but there is new reason to believe that acquisition talks could be started for Ducati, as KTM CEO Stefan Pierer has expressed interest in owning the Italian motorcycle company.

Talking to German-language publication Speedweek, Pierer expressed his interest in adding Ducati to his stable of motorcycle marques, and floated some ideas on how Ducati could fit into KTM’s overall two-wheeled strategy.

His thoughts are…interesting, to say the least.

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News

Tenneco Set to Buy Öhlins for $160 Million

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Interesting news today on the business front of the powersports industry, as Tenneco Inc. announced its intention to purchase Öhlins Racing A.B. for $160 million.

The move would see Tenneco own a majority stake in Öhlins, while a minority position in the company would remain with founder and namesake Kenth Öhlin.

The move is an interesting one since Tenneco has been in the suspension business before, owning the Marzocchi suspension brand.

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News

This Week’s “Ducati for Sale” Rumor

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The Volkswagen Group got a new CEO last week, and in less than seven days, that news has already sparked renewed rumors in the German automobile conglomerate divesting itself of Ducati Motor Holdings.

For those who have been following Ducati’s saga, there was much talk last year of Volkswagen selling off a number of its other brands, all under the reasoning that the German company would need to raise capital to cover its mounting Dieselgate liabilities.

The logic for that reasoning wasn’t sound, but the actions were certainly there, with Volkswagen tendering offers from a number of would-be suitors. 

There was a fly in the ointment though: Volkswagen’s labor unions, who control half of the VW Group’s board seats, and were vehemently opposed to any brand divestitures.

Because of the unions, any sale – including Ducati’s – was a non-starter for the Volkswagen executives, though that didn’t keep the warring factions from trying. By the end of last year though, it seemed we had put this issue to bed. 2018, however, is a new year.

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News

Brammo Sold to Cummins

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Cummins is better known for its diesel truck engines, but the Fortune 500 company makes its money from also selling generators and alternative energy power sources.

So maybe, it shouldn’t come as a surprise then to learn today that Cummins has acquired Brammo, Inc. and its electric drivetrain business.

Before we should go further, we should point out that Polaris still owns Brammo’s motorcycle business, which it bought separately back in 2015, and that this purchase by Cummins applies only to the parts of Brammo that Polaris didn’t buy, including Brammo’s race bike, the Empulse RR.

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News

Skully Technologies Clarifies How It Will “Make It Right”

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We broke the news last week that helmet tech-startup Skully was rising from the dead, and today we have more news from Skully Technologies and how it plans to correct the wrongs of its predecessor.

In a letter to its “SKULLY Nation”, Skully Technologies lists how various backers of Skully’s Indiegogo campaign will be treated under the new company.

While the plan lists several bullet points for the various supporter levels, along with caveats, the short version is that Skully Technologies will honor all of the Indiegogo campaign promises make by Skully, Inc, substituting the Skully AR-1 helmet with the new Skully Fenix helmet, of course.

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News

Sweet Jesus, Investors Revive Skully Helmet Project

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For reasons beyond our imagination and comprehension, the failed business experiment that was the Skully AR-1 helmet has been revived by new investors.

Sending out a blast to the “Skully Nation” email list, the brand’s new owners Ivan and Rafael Contreras, have announced their plans to revive this seemingly dead project.

One can barely fathom why someone would want to continue a project that so obviously was doomed to its own failure, and that also so grossly betrayed the goodwill of the motorcycle community; and yet, here we are, with Skully Technologies taking over where Skully, Inc. left off.

The presumption of this news is that the new management hopes to bring the AR-1 helmet, with its heads-up display technology, to market.

The announcement goes on also to say that Skully Technologies will leverage augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence technologies for the wearable products industry – a nod to the three hottest technology sectors in Silicon Valley at this moment in time.

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News

Ducati Divestiture Seemingly Stalls Out

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For the past few months, talk of Ducati’s divestiture from the Volkswagen Group has grabbed the attention from news outlets and Ducatisti alike, as the future of the Italian motorcycle company seemed uncertain.

Internally, a power struggle was a play, with Audi keen to unload Ducati from its books, but lacking the support from upper management in the Volkswagen Group.

Talks reportedly hit the skids once it was realized that the Volkswagen labor unions, which control half of the seats on the Volkswagen Group management board, weren’t onboard with divesting Ducati from the holding group.

This is probably information that investors would have liked to know, before they spent the time and resources putting together purchase proposals for Audi’s consideration.

Now, with no change in the position of VW’s labor unions, and with the possibility of an internal consensus seemingly out of sight, it seems talk of Ducati’s divestiture have stalled, with little chance of them resuming this year.

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News

Maybe You Can Be the Future Owner of Ducati

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There has been a lot of rumor as of late, about whether Ducati is for sale, and who would be a potential buyer of the iconic motorcycle brand. We have seen just about every large motorcycle manufacturer at some point has been linked to buying Ducati Motor Holding, and now we can add another: MotoCorsa.

That’s right, the top Ducati dealer in the United States is throwing its hat into the ring, and looking to other Ducati owners to help crowdsource the $1.6 billion likely needed to wrestle away the Ducati brand from its owners at Audi AG.

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News

Dirt Quake Acquired by North One TV

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Dirt Quake, the grassroots flat track event, has been acquired by North One TV. The transaction sees North One TV acquiring both the Dirt Quake name, and the Dirt Quake events, with the core Dirt Quake team, including Gary Inman, staying on for the foreseeable future.

North One says that with the acquisition the media company plans to grow Dirt Quake internationally, with Dirt Quake already hosting popular events in the UK, Europe, and United States.

Presumably this means an expansion of Dirt Quake events into new markets, where flat track racing is already popular.

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