Ducati starts production at its factory in Borgo Panigale in a phased manner

In line with the measures taken by global automobile manufacturers to contain the spread of the Covid-19, Ducati had temporarily suspended production at its Bologna plant on March 13. Gauging the overall situation, the Italian motorcycle manufacturer has now decided to start production at the same plant. This is being done with the gradual improvement of health conditions in the country, states Ducati. Also, the government has given a green signal to companies to resume operation, especially the ones which do exports as there is a fear that the prolonged suspension in operation could lead to further loss in market share.

Ducati mentions that the production will start in a phased manner. This will be lead by the workshop staff, followed by engine assembly workers. Tomorrow on April 28, 2020, the motorcycle assembly workers will commence work. Working out of the factory option will be only given the to the people who cannot perform their tasks from home. However, the commercial, marketing, IT, personnel management, finance, purchasing and logistics team will continue to do work from home. In order to make sure minimum people are there in the factory, the company will be going from an eight-hour shift to two seven-hour shifts

In the R&D department, the engineers of the engine test rooms, those who carry out motorcycle tests and those who carry out laboratory testing are all present at Borgo Panigale. All designers, project managers, and those in the calculation department will work remotely. This will ensure the deliveries of Ducati motorcycles and the development of new products. Many of the measures inserted at the Ducati's plant are the result of a careful analysis of the protocols used in the Chinese plants of the VW Group, in particular the FAW-VW of Chanchung, where production was suspended only for one week but where strict protection, distancing and sanitising measures are still in force, confirmed Ducati.

"The two-wheel market is highly seasonal, and the stop to production in March and April has already had negative effects on sales. The Chinese market is already booming, sales in Korea and Japan are doing well. In Germany, dealers have been open for a week and we already have a major shortage of product. I really believe that this restart can allow us to reduce at least in part the negative effects of the lockdown that we were forced to respect, unfortunately at the worst time. We have a splendid order book: the brand-new Streetfighter V4 just launched has obtained unanimous approval from the specialized press and is the undisputed queen of the category. Unfortunately, production was halted just one month after the start. Then there are also many orders for the Multistrada 1260 S Grand Tour and for the Panigale V2. We also have the empty warehouses of the Multistrada 950 and Ducati Scrambler 1100 PRO.", commented, said Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO