MV reaffirms ambitious five-year plan

Italian manufacturer MV Agusta has issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to a five-fold expansion of production, despite the turmoil wrought on Italy and indeed the wider world by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Located in the hard-hit northern portion of Italy, MV Agusta recently called a temporary halt to production to comply with strict local regulations brought in to arrest the pandemic's spread.

Now with early signs of the rate of infection slowing in Italy, the company says it's ready to "gradually return to 'business as usual', or rather to a 'new normality' as the current COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the way we will work and live from now on."

In October 2019, MV Agusta unveiled an ambitious plan to increase production from 5000 units per annum to 25,000 units per annum within five years, which followed on from major MV Agusta shareholders, Russia's Sardarov family, also announcing the brand had inked a deal with China's Loncin Motor Company to produce 350cc and 500cc models.

Now the company says it has taken the necessary steps to embrace a new safety culture, "redesigning internal procedures and implementing measures to continue production and office work with maximum safety".

What's more, it's re-stated its intention to continue with its bold five-year plan, which it hopes to realise through substantial investments in production lines and R&D, the launch of new models with appeal for a wider audience, and a strengthening and expansion of the MV Agusta dealer network.

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"This is not the moment for being shy," says Timur Sardarov, CEO of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A.

"We need to embrace change and give everything we have to build a new future for our industry and for our communities, maintaining, if not increasing, the current levels of employment.

"If it is true that we will have to deal with a whole new set of parameters in all aspects of our societies, we must not be afraid to believe in our potential. We are ready to take on the challenge. We are still making the best and most beautiful bikes in the world, and we will continue to do so, maybe in a different way, but with confidence and determination.

"We are already making the necessary investments to reach out to new audiences and enter new markets as originally set out in our industrial plan. In addition, the super-premium positioning of our traditional production may be less likely to suffer than other, less flexible segments.

"Also, motorcycles are by definition the quintessence of individual mobility, a symbol of freedom and a natural, agile alternative to mass transportation. A further reason for confidence in these difficult times."