The Volkswagen Group has ruled out selling Ducati following strong opposition from the Italian motorcycle brand’s labor union, FIOM CIGL.
Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali made the announcement to staff on Friday, union representative Bruno Papignani confirmed to Bloomberg.
Helping to sway the decision was the support of FIOM CIGL by IG Metall, a powerful labor union in Germany representing staff from several VW Group brands.
The VW Group purchased Ducati in 2012 for approximately $935 million and since then has increased the number of employees from 1,197 to 1,558. The automaker started shopping around for a potential buyer earlier this year in an effort to raise an estimated $1.8 billion.
Recall, the VW Group is facing a bill of more than $30 billion due to the diesel scandal. The figure was bumped up on Friday by $2.95 billion following an announcement by the automaker that efforts surrounding its retrofit and buyback program of diesels are proving more complex than earlier thought.
Aston Martin shareholder Investindustrial and Harley-Davidson were thought to be among the potential buyers.
The good news for the VW Group is that Ducati is in the black. The brand delivered 55,451 motorcycles in 2016, which was up 1.2 percent on the previous year. This resulted in a profit of $60 million.
