Yesterday, here in Southern California at the L.A. Auto Show, Ducati and Mercedes AMG jointly announced a marketing arrangement whereby the two premium brands will align in different venues to expose their products to each other’s customer base. The deal involves some sponsorship of the Ducati MotoGP team by AMG. We don’t know yet whether AMG will receive title billing in the team name, however. Here is the press release from Ducati concerning this new relationship with the German luxury, performance automobile manufacturer.
The initial aim of the cooperation between the performance brand from Affalterbach and the Italian manufacturer of high-performance motorcycles is to develop common marketing activities. The cooperation agreement was signed today, during a press conference at the Los Angeles Auto Show, by Gabriele del Torchio, President and CEO of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A and Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.
“We are especially proud to have AMG as one of our sponsors for the Ducati MotoGP Team. I am also very pleased that our joint marketing activities are well under way. In AMG we have found a partner who perfectly reflects our brand values of high performance, motorsport, excitement and our sense of unmistakable style and design,” said Gabriele del Torchio, President and CEO of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.
“I am very pleased that we are able to announce our strategic cooperation with Ducati today. AMG and Ducati ideally complement each other, as both companies share the same values: racing as the driving passion, and high performance plus exclusivity as the central brand messages of both AMG and Ducati. This long-term cooperation will help us to jointly access new customer groups,” said Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.
The first visible results of the cooperation between Ducati and AMG will be joint marketing and sponsoring activities. AMG will support the Ducati MotoGP Team as the Official Car Partner from 2011, for example. During selected AMG events, participants will be able to test ride Ducati motorcycles, and Ducati customers will similarly have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the latest AMG high-performance cars at events.
Joint events are planned for the members of the AMG Private Lounge, in which more than 13,000 AMG customers worldwide are registered. The partners are currently examining the further activities and strategic steps they might undertake together in the near future.
Ducati and AMG: racing, high performance, exclusivity.
Watch the video of New Ducati Diavel and Mercedes-AMG meeting on the road.
well, we at least know where Rossi is going after his two wheel career: german touring car racing with the rest of the retired F1 crowd….
Good for Ducati! MotoGP has been hard hit by the ‘financial crises’ and it is no mean feat to fund a successful effort at this level. Have a look at the shrinking grid for the proof. Kawasaki has quit, Suzuki has reduced their effort from a 2 rider team to a one rider team and more than one privateer team has left to run exclusively in Moto 2 or has just run out of funds altogether. Apparently this is more about joint marketing efforts than high visibility on the bike itself, according to other sources.
Their cash outlay for MotoGP is probably a drop in the bucket compared to what they spend on F1. No doubt they thought, “Why not? It’s chump-change.”
yes, this has everything to do with mercedes long standing rivalry with bmw. if it wasn’t for the marketing value, the spend thrifts at bmw would’ve likely scraped the motorcycle division a long time ago. as it stands, motorrad serves as a powerful conduit for intercepting sales of premium automobiles. a conduit that neither mercedes or lexus enjoys.
I would’ve thought Ferrari would be a better fit, especially if Rossi wants to try F1 later.
hmmmm……”show me yours, I’ll show you mine”
I hope they didn’t spend alot on the video clip.
I agree this can only be good news for the motorcycling world in general.
A little off the subject but that Diavel doesn’t look so bad in motion, on the street as it does in the stills they’ve released.
How rich.
I always pictured Ducati lining up better with Ferrari, but AMG makes sence too. VW Group was wanting to purchase Ducati for a while to gain another market foothold. If Rossi can still healthy, I see great development and potential for a GP Championship run. Buona Fortuna
I wonder if this has more to do with competing with BMW than anything else? BMW has bikes and cars and has been moving closer to aligning brand marketing and image for some time now. Maybe there is even some stock trade/ownership alignment in the long range plans between the two companies.
The PR sounds more support not prime sponsorship but if Fiat can do it Mercedes can do it. At any rate I’m glad to see AMG supporting 2-wheel racing. We need all the sponsors we can get given the current economy and maturity of the sport.
I was wondering when they’d announce a big time sponsor to help foot the bill for Rossi’s salary. Killing their factory WSB team didn’t seem like enough.