Blue Skies!

Published: 17th August 2007

Author: Jonty Edmunds

The future looks bright for Husqvarna following its take-over by BMW

It wasn't all that long ago that sports car manufacturer Lamborghini had a serious image problem. While their cars possessed Italian flair by the bucketload, were eye-wateringly quick and beautifully styled, they were also impractical, unreliable and had a less than well-oiled dealer network...or so I've read. Not that long ago Lamborghini built no more than 250 cars each year.

      Then in '98 Lamborghini were brought by Audi, part of the VW group. German order was integrated into the Italian marque and things started to change. Lamborghini cars became more reliable and the company started producing new models with the range-topping Gallardo launched in '03. Today Lamborghini produce some of the world's most desirable luxury sports cars.

      The VW group - or Lamborghini for that matter - has little to do with BMW's take-over of Husqvarna motorcycles and I'm not for one moment suggesting that the problems that afflicted the then beleaguered car company are shared by Husky. But the opening two paragraphs give a real-life example of how a German buy-out of an Italian company can produce very positive results. Which is exactly what most are hoping, some even praying, will happen to Husqvarna now that they are owned by BMW - the most German of German companies and also Europe's largest motorcycle manufacturer.

While Lamborghini and Husqvarna have little in common there are a few similarities that can be drawn between Lamborghini's past situation and Husqvarna's present day state of affairs. Equally, while the VW group aren't BMW they are both successful German automotive manufacturers and as such it can be assumed - and hoped - that their plans for Husqvarna will be equally as ambitious, well-managed and ultimately successful.

Husqvarna's present day products are anything but impractical or unreliable and their dealer network is most certainly well-oiled. But Husqvarna - due to financial 'issues' in recent years, failed buy-outs, diminished racing successes and a reduced new model development programme - have developed a bit of an image problem. While the products they produce are well built the company's money troubles have stopped it blossoming into the much celebrated and dominant brand it once was. While several different companies have invested in Husqvarna over the past few years in the hope of getting the company well and truly back on track, one thing throughout those years remained the same - the company's upper management. Which, according to some, is exactly why Husqvarna have failed to really move forward in the past five years.

That is now going to change. Just like with Lamborghini, German management - world renowned and ruthlessly efficient - will now sit alongside Italian creativity and motorsport passion which can only be a good thing for Husqvarna. In the hands of Europe's biggest motorcycle manufacturer, Husky now have the potential to stabilise, grow and flourish.

Of all the unanswered questions surrounding BMW's purchase of Husqvarna two immediately spring to mind. Firstly, why did BMW decide to buy Husqvarna? And, secondly, at a time when they themselves have just produced their first 'proper' off-road bike, what are their plans for the company?

So far the only question that has been officially answered is that BMW plan to continue to operate Husqvarna as a 'separate enterprise'. In effect Husqvarnas will remain as Husqvarnas and BMWs will remain BMWs. But why BMW have decided to buy Husqvarna nobody knows for sure.

One thing that many believe has prompted BMW to invest in the off-road game is KTM - Europe's largest off-road motorcycle manufacturer. Having gone from strength to strength in the past 10 years the orange brand now not only dominate the global enduro market but are also seen as the fifth manufacturer of motocross machines alongside the Japanese big four. Add to that their domination of events like Dakar, their ever-expanding road bike line and their successes in GP road racing and it's easy to see why BMW might want to expand from road into off-road, just as KTM are expanding rapidly in the opposite direction.

But while KTM's successes in recent years may have opened BMW's eyes to the size and potential of the off-road market, in buying Husqvarna they will also have access to a global off-road sales network. Something that could be extremely handy when it comes to the distribution of their as yet unreleased own brand of off-road motorcycles.

Husqvarna, although not the off-road powerhouse they once were, have huge potential as a company which is obviously a key reason why BMW chose to buy them. Let us not forget that it wasn't all that long ago that Husqvarna were winning motocross world championships thanks to the efforts of Chicco Chiodi in the late '90s and were the dominant player in the WEC no less than five years ago.

While the take-over, moving in and setting up of the new German-owned Husqvarna company will inevitably take some time, word is already seeping out from Varese that BMW have a very clear and as yet unannounced plan for growth and expansion in the coming years.

Husqvarna might be a relative minnow in terms of the number of bikes they build annually in comparison to BMW but so too were Lamborghini when Audi brought them a little under 10 years ago.

And just look where Lamborghini are now...