Ducati has again been certified in Italy as a “Top Employer”, gaining recognition for its “excellent working conditions” and for offering “training and skills development at all levels of the company”. The accolade is awarded by the Top Employers Institute in Italy, based on an audit of responses to an HR best practices survey.
The new Ducati E-MTB has started to arrive in dealerships. The exclusive pedal-assist mountain bike can be ordered from the Ducati website or at Ducati dealerships throughout Europe. Co-developed by Ducati and Thok E-Bikes, with design and graphics by Aldo Drudi's D-Perf and support from the Ducati Style Center, it was unveiled at EICMA 2018 and described as a “cutting-edge E-MTB able to meet the needs of even the most expert riders”.
The UK consumer show Motorcycle Live (Birmingham, November 2018) attracted 103,702 visitors. The total was 3,370 down on 2017 and failed to meet the growth target of the organiser, the UK motorcycle industry trade association MCIA. The MCIA is also saying that new UK motorcycle registrations in the UK in 2019 are likely to be +2.5% on the 105,467 recorded in 2018, which will be substantially below the 115,000 forecast made by MCIA CEO Tony Campbell.
Zero Motorcycles has partnered with Swiss based Quadro Vehicles to produce the e-Qooder, an electric four-wheeled maxi scooter, by the end of 2019. Quadro is already producing the Qooder, a four-wheeled tilting scooter with a built-in hydraulic tilt system that allows it to bank upwards of 45 degrees while maintaining traction.
The eurozone economy stuck to its lowest pace of growth in four years in the final three months of 2018. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the 19 countries sharing the single currency rose by +0.2% in the quarter and by +1.2% year-on-year, according to Eurostat.
Italy's economy contracted for the second consecutive quarter at the end of 2018 - the criteria which defines an economy’s entry into recession. Gross domestic product fell a quarterly -0.2% between October and December, following a -0.1% decline in the third quarter, and was up +0.1% on an annual basis, national statistics bureau Istat reported. Italy has a long-standing problem of weak economic growth. The economy is still 5% smaller than it was at the peak before the global recession a decade ago.
Spanish Pedelec and eMTB start-up Bultaco Motors has filed for bankruptcy protection. Founded in 2015, the Madrid based business with assembly capacity in Barcelona, is owned by MMI Investments and owes 11m euro. The company was trading under a brand license granted by the family of Francesc “Paco” Bultó - the founder of the original Bultaco business. A director of the 1944 founded Montesa motorcycle company, he left to create the original Bultaco brand with other former Montesa employees is 1958. After considerable race success and popularity of its 2-stroke machines with consumers it folded in 1983. In 2017 Bultaco Motors sold 1,250 units and posted turnover of over 4m euro.
