It goes without saying that 2020 has been a challenging year for a lot of us, including the motoring industry. Despite the hardships faced in Italy, Ducati managed to close off the year 2020 on a positive note as they successfully delivered a total of 48,042 motorcycles around the globe. This translates to a turnover figure of €676 million (RM3.316 billion) and €24 million (RM117.7 million) in operating profit.

The seven-week halt in production to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country did slow down the production numbers in Borgo Panigale, but in terms of sales figures, 2020 was only 9.7% shy of what they sold in 2019, which was 53,183. Revenues might have dropped, but a drop that is slightly less than 10% is quite impressive, especially considering the fact that Ducati's primary offerings are high-end two-wheelers.

It's even more impressive to know that there was a significant increase in several markets around the world, particularly China (+26%), Germany (+6.7%), and Switzerland (+11.1%). Italy still remains the brand's number one market followed by the good ol' USA. Ducati also reported that their turnover per bike figure for 2020 was the highest in the company's history - €14,883/motorcycle (just over RM73,000).

According to Claudio Domenicali, CEO Ducati Motor Holding, "2020 was indeed a challenging year but we are satisfied with our financial performance throughout. Thanks to rigorous discipline, we were able to reduce fixed costs thus limiting operating margin drop. At the same time, vastly reducing inventories had positive effects on cash flow, which is the best ever recorded to date. Investments in new products were fully untouched and this paved the way for a positive development of Ducati in the future. A heartfelt thank you goes out to the women and men of Ducati who, every day, with passion and dedication, contribute to the company's strength and success even in this very complex and tough year."