Audi has confirmed it has decided to ditch plans to sell Ducati, electing instead to keep the motorcycle division.
Rupert Stadler, CEO of Audi, confirmed to Reuters and other news outlets: “I can assure you that Ducati belongs to the Audi family. Ducati is the perfect implementation of our premium philosophy in the world of motorbikes.”
Stadler noted the company no longer has a financial incentive to sell Ducati, with Audi looking to cut around 10 billion euros ($15.5 billion) in costs by strengthening its ties with compatriot brand Porsche, cutting internal red tape, and keeping employee numbers stable over the next few years.
A report in April said the German automaker had engaged banking advisory firm Evercore to help find a buyer for Ducati.
With a sale price said to be between 1.0 and 1.5 billion euros ($1.55 and $2.3 billion), money raised from the sale would go towards the Volkswagen Group’s Dieselgate-related costs, and pivoting its green car strategy from “clean diesels” to electric vehicles.
Moves to offload Ducati apparently ran afoul of Audi’s labour union representatives in September. Under the German corporate governance scheme, union members typically have seats on a company’s supervisory board and are able to veto certain decisions.
Although Audi itself is part of the larger Volkswagen Group, it is the legal owner of both Ducati and Lamborghini, and has oversight over both companies’ management, direction and strategy.
MORE: Audi news, reviews, comparisons and video
MORE: Ducati coverage
