The motorcycle blogosphere has been talking Ducati scooter almost from the moment the company was bought by Audi back in 2012. At the time, I laughed at the idea of an Audi-run Ducati, but Audi’s ambitions of going toe-to-toe with crosstown rivals BMW seems to be pushing Ducati hard to improve sales and customer support, advance technology, and go into markets that compete directly with BMW’s 2 wheeled division.
According to Asphalt and Rubber, Audi also “would like to see the ~44,000 unit (Ducati) bump its figures into the six-figure territory”, which would certainly help establish Auducati as the go-to brand for German 2 wheelers. Maybe.
Regardless of sales goals, the real question seems to be about what, specifically, an Audi-developed Ducati scooter would look like. Would it be a fun, sporty urban runabout like the Aprilia SR50 or a big, comfy cruising scoot that has more in common with BMW’s massive C series maxi-scooters? Given VW/Audi’s historically ego-driven decision making, I’d expect it to be something closer to the latter- but, who knows? Ducati may do something smart and offer a product that has more in common with the old 125 cc Ducati cafe racers of years gone by and give Honda’s hot-selling Grom something to worry about. Something like this …
… a concept, by the way, that Honda has already proven could work – and look like a million bucks! – on a scooter-sized Grom 125 frame.
What do you guys think? Is Ducati going to shock the world with a product we might actually want, or will they simply do what they’ve done better than anyone for the last few decades: play catch-up to BMW? Worst case, they slap a Ducati-looking headset and boy-racer exhaust on an old Vespa frame – and even that may be better than another giant-sized scooter that nobody asked for, right? Let us know what you think, in the comments, below.
Source: Asphalt and Rubber, original image from Gas 2.
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