A first for the Italian marquee, MV Agusta has entered into a partnership with China based Loncin Motors to manufacture premium 350-500 cc bikes for the mass market.
MV Agusta, exotic Italian motorcycle manufacturer, has recently announced a ‘long term strategic partnership agreement’ with Loncin Motors, a very popular Chinese motorcycle manufacturer. This partnership will see MV Agusta co-develop some premium bikes in the 350-500 cc displacement category along with Loncin Motors. According to a press release on MV Agusta’s website, this collaboration will see the launch of four new motorcycles in the Asian region by 2021, although the particular countries have not been announced.
MV Agusta have always positioned them as a manufacturer of high-end performance motorcycles. The fact that MV Agusta will be bringing some 350-500 cc bikes does come as a surprise but this joint venture with Loncin Motors will see them enter the mass market for the first time. Loncin Motors, on the other hand will also be benefiting from the joint venture as the Italian marquee will help them in developing and entering the premium motorcycle segment with their 800 cc range of motorcycles.
Currently, Locin Motors also manufactures and supplies engines to BMW Motarrad for the BMW F750 GS and BMW F850 GS models, apart from wholly manufacturing Motorrad’s C400X and C400GT scooters for international markets. This association with BMW has given Loncin Motors great critical acclaim and popularity in recent years as a manufacturer of well-built two-wheelers and two-wheeler powertrains. Furthermore, this new joint venture with MV Agusta will give them access to MV’s CRC or Castiglioni Research Centre in Italy, which is where all MV’s are designed and engineered.
Thus, Loncin will develop and expand its VOGE family of premium two-wheelers to enter into the mid and large capacity segments. Also, MV Agusta has clearly said that the new 350-500 cc bikes which will be a result of joint venture will carry on the typical MV Agusta DNA in terms of performance, handling and acoustics for the younger riders its aimed for.
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The President of Loncin, Yong Gao, announced, “The conclusion of the strategic agreement is conducive to Loncin’s and MV Agusta’s joint response to the changes in global market demand and to the coordinated development of both sides. Loncin will use advanced manufacturing resources and Chinese market knowledge to help MV Agusta expand its product line and enhance product competitiveness. MV Agusta’s technology and advanced design experience of high-performance motorcycles will support Loncin’s “VOGE” brand in becoming the market leader of premium motorcycles in China. I am looking forward to our strategic cooperation based on the principles of mutual benefit and success.”
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Currently, MV Agusta has a range of 675, 800 and 1000cc motorcycles in their lineup. Of these the F3 800, F4, the Brutale 800 and the Brutale 1090 are on sale in India. These bikes are exclusively imported and sold by Pune-based and Kinetic-group owned Motoroyale. If MV Agusta does bring its range of 350-500 cc bikes to India, it would be interesting to see how Motoroyale would price those motorcycles.
