Latest in the "Ducati up for sale?" story

[Randimus Maximus]

Doe's Audi own Lamborghini now ??  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the chassis of the R8 is base on a Lamborghini

Both Audi and Lambo are under the VW umbrella, as is Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti, Skoda, SEAT, & Scania.

[zooom]

R8 Panigale anyone?...LOL

[zooom]

BTW...I can't take credit for the design as it was sent to me on my local club Email list by one of the other members whom I assume did it...

[77south]

http://jalopnik.com/5892626/all-the-best-audi+buys+ducati-jokes-in-one-place

[potomacduc]

http://jalopnik.com/5892626/all-the-best-audi+buys+ducati-jokes-in-one-place

Very nice.  Although I may be in the minority as someone who can't stand VW/Audi, at least it seems I have some company.

I pray this deal falls apart and a more suitable suitor is found.....

[thought]

I can only see this as a good thing as VW has a pretty good history of absorbing brands and letting them develop well.  Every single small high end company they have absorbed has only profited from the purchase.

[brimo]

Welcome Herbie to the DMF

http://www.flickr.com/photos/minimarketing/4693555644/#

[Curmudgeon]

From "Automotive News" today, what we industry insiders used to call "Automotive Blues". 
http://www.autonews.com/article/20120313/BLOG15/303139799/1498

[JEFF_H]

Anyone find it interesting that Michael Lock the former Ducati NA CEO is now at Lambo USA?
maybe he's trying to get his old job back in a roundabout way

[Drunken Monkey]

Anyone find it interesting that Michael Lock the former Ducati NA CEO is now at Lambo USA?
maybe he's trying to get his old job back in a roundabout way

I doubt he has that much pull mit der germans, but you never know...

[Desmo Demon]

Although I may be in the minority as someone who can't stand VW/Audi, at least it seems I have some company.

I pray this deal falls apart and a more suitable suitor is found.....

I agree with your post.

We had bought a new 2004 Jetta in late '04 and put almost 120k miles on it before unloading it. My wife and I vow to never own another Volkswagen for the cr@p quality and cr@p customer service. I suspect the block was machined wrong because the water pump was always leaking at the block, their plastic impeller exploded on the water pump at 60k miles (a VERY common problem), a plastic heater hose fitting broke, the electric fan died ($350), the alternator went bad at 105k, the coating on the dash covers was peeling off, both front seats mysteriously dropped LARGE springs out of the bottoms of them that didn't effect the function of the seats, the front leather seats had premature cracks and splits, the CD player in the main stereo deck quit working, a recall on the heated seats basically rendered them worthless, we had two ignitions coils fry and they wouldn't completely reimburse us for the one that fried prior to the recall, and the list goes on. And this was the last year for that body style, so they should have had all the issues straightened out by then.

In comparison, my 1995 Honda Civic had a wheel bearing go bad at 125k. The car now has 278k and I finally changed out the CV axles. It still has the original clutch and alternator.

[CayoHueso]

^That's pretty rare. One of my nephews has a Jetta TDI. Outside of standard maintenance per the manufacturer, the car has 225k incident free miles.

[lethe]

my 2011 Golf TDI is at 94k now and with no problems except for the fact that cats keep getting hit by it, 3 so far 

My wife's Audi is too new to fairly compare but it certainly was fun in the little bit of snow we did get this year.

[Desmo Demon]

^That's pretty rare. One of my nephews has a Jetta TDI. Outside of standard maintenance per the manufacturer, the car has 225k incident free miles.

Far from rare, actually - A coworker of mine has a 2001 Jetta TDI and is having difficulties getting it to start and to run at idle until it warms up. It's been to three mechanics and no one can figure it out. He swears off VW's from this point forward.....Ex-bandmember's sister had bought a new Beetle when they came out. She had the sunroof replaced twice and had two impellers explode on water pumps in less than 100k miles. When we bought our Jetta, he told me I should have talked to him first. His whole family has sworn off VW's because of the issues with the VW and the poor customer service they received.

The plastic impellers are a very well known problem with VW's and that is why practically every thread on a VW forum recommends replacing the water pump the first time with an aftermarket with a steel impeller. Interestingly, last time I checked, VW still uses plastic impellers despite the well known issue.

http://repairpal.com/engine-overheating-due-to-damaged-water-pump-impeller-344

If you read through the comments on that website, you will see that they cover the water pump, fan, and plastic hose fittings that our car was plagued with.

Audi cars have the same impeller issues - http://atlanticmotorcar.com/audi-tt-quattro-1-8-turbo-defective-water-pump

[ducpainter]

Pretty sure Ducati water cooled bikes already have a plastic impeller.

How else can a VW takeover hurt the Ducati brand?