Motorcycles, four wheels fall in love with two wheels

We're not ready to call it a trend yet, but rumors are already quickly making the rounds around the world. More than a couple of large car manufacturers have set their sights on motorcycle manufacturers to add them to their portfolios, thus following in the footsteps of the Volkswagen Group, which "incorporated" Ducati and placed it under "its" Audi in a delicate brand puzzle .

According to some rumors circulating this week, the group Fiat Chrysler is considering purchasing the Piaggio, which would also include Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa, a financial operation that would centralize a bouquet of highly respected brands under the umbrella of FCA.

While the car manufacturer is denying these rumors, many believe that Marchionne's group is working on this delicate market coup. A merger operation between these two historic Italian four and two wheel companies which will almost certainly take as an example the BMW, known worldwide for both cars and motorbikes, creating a brand that could conceptually add flavor to both two and four wheels and which above all would align Fiat Chrysler with its Bavarian rivals both on paper and in the minds of consumers.

But the rumors about possible agreements between the motorbike and car industries did not stop in Italy, in fact it spread beyond Italy. In fact it is said that Daimler have more than a passing interest in MV Agusta, the historic Italian brand, which has seen a series of ups and downs over the last few decades and which could conceivably become a sub-brand of Mercedes Benz on the market.

And then there is Mahindra, which resisted for a long time, but then succumbed to the desire to acquire, or at least attempt to do so, Peugeot Motorcycles, a very important scooter brand, which is no longer receiving much money from its parent company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, particularly in the last decade, according to an authoritative source such as Bloomberg.

In any case, while we're not entirely sure which of these rumors is most likely to turn into reality, we can at least say that such a move wouldn't be unprecedented and wouldn't be terribly surprising given the current automaking climate in global markets. .