Will Harley buy MV Agusta?

Harley-Davidson is in the market to buy a European maker, according to Italian newspaper Il Messagero, which claims the American firm is making a tilt at the MV Agusta/Cagiva group.

It says the deal is  for 80-85 per cent of the company and would involve writing down some of its massive 200 million Euro debts.

If it went ahead, it would see founder Claudio Castiglioni reduce his shareholding from just under 30 per cent to around 15-20.

This follows on from rumours some months ago that H-D had run a calculator over Ducati.

If the MV deal went ahead, it would be the second time the US firm has had European interests - in 1974 it bought Italian firm Aermacchi, which it later sold to Castiglioni.

The Cagiva group last year sold Husqvarna to BMW.