MV Agusta turns 75

On January 19, 2020, historic Italian marque MV Agusta notched up its 75th birthday. And while the company will host official celebrations in Varese on June 20 and 21, it's worth pausing to reflect on a proud motorcycling heritage with more twists and turns through the years than the grand prix circuits from which it rose to prominence.

The Agusta family, having to abandon aviation manufacturing in the closing stages of World War II, turned its attention to motorcycles, founding Meccanica Verghera Srl on January 19, 1945, in Cascina Costa, near Milan's Malpensa airport.

Its first model, a 98cc bike known as the MV98, was also produced in a high-spec variant that caused a stir at the 1947 Milan Trade Fair, and the legend of MV Agusta began...

Count Domenico Agusta hired a cast of talented racers through the years who would help cement the brand's reputation for fast, innovative and competitive machine. Those men would carry the brand no fewer than 13 world championship, 18 Italian titles, and 10 Isle of Man TTs.

MV's first racer, Franco Bertoni, was followed by Arcisio Artesiani, Carlo Ubbiali, Leslie Graham, Cecil Sandford, Fortunato Libanori, John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Gianfranco Bonera, Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read, their success on the track also inspiring many successful production models.

But after Count Agusta's death in 1971, and Agostini's last victory at the Nürburgring in 1976, the brand languished until it was acquired by Claudio Castiglioni's Cagiva brand in 1991, whereupon production moved to Schiranna, on the shores of Lake Varese, where MV Agusta motorcycles are produced to this day.

Claudio Castiglioni's guidance and renewed investment led, in 1997, to the birth of the 750cc F4, MV Agusta's first superbike, but tough times loomed for the high-end manufacturer…

Financial difficulties saw MV Agusta sold to Malaysian auto giant Proton in 2004, then sold by Proton the following year to Italian finance firm GEVI SpA, which refinanced MV Agusta to allow it to keep trading.

In 2007 MV Agusta sold Husqvarna to BMW (which in turn sold the originally Swedish brand to KTM in 2013), before MV Agusta was acquired by Harley-Davidson in 2008 – the US heavyweight then selling MV Agusta back to the Castiglioni family in 2010!

Following Claudio Castiglioni's death in 2011, new models such as the Brutale, F3, Dragster and Turismo Veloce appeared, among others, with Claudio's son Giovanni now at the helm.

Mercedes-AMG acquired a minority stake in the brand in 2014, adopting a similar tack to the Volkswagen-owned Audi group when it acquired rival marque Ducati in 2012, before that 25 per cent stake was then sold to ComSar Invest in 2017, the firm headed by London-based Russian oil and gas magnate, Timur Sardarov.

Last year then saw the Sardarov family acquire 100 per cent of MV Agusta's capital, with Tim Sardarov appointed as MV Agusta's CEO.

Following an injection of fresh capital, a major organisational restructure and the recent announcement of a joint venture with Chinese motorcycle manufacturer Loncin to produce 350cc and 500cc models, MV Agusta says it's now eyeing annual production of 25,000 units, the target a part of the firm's five-year plan that it outlined in October 2019.

Including the new middleweight models produced in collaboration with Loncin, MV Agusta says it will bring over 20 new models to market over the next five years.

On marking MV Agusta's 75th year milestone, Mr Sardarov said he was excited to be guiding the historic firm into a new period of growth and stability.

"Being at the head of MV Agusta at this historic moment in time is exciting and challenging," he said.

"I consider it a great privilege and also a great responsibility but, looking back at MV Agusta's legacy, I know we are standing on the shoulders of a giant, and this gives me great pride and confidence in breaking new ground every day, launching innovative technology, new incredible models, and expanding into markets we have never entered before."