Ducati North America has announced record retail sales for the first quarter of 2007. The first three months of the year closed with retail sales up 15% percent over 2006’s record first quarter. First quarter sales were led by the introduction of the all new 1098 Superbike. The eagerly anticipated arrival of the 1098 doubled sales of the flagship Superbike family, with over 600 bikes being delivered to customers. The Monster and Sport Classic families balanced out the final mix with combined sales of over 600 bikes. The remaining sales were comprised of Multistrada, Sport Touring and Supersport families.

“First quarter retail deliveries have shown that the 1098 is exactly the commercial success we had anticipated. With class- leading technology, weight and handling the 1098 is flying out of dealer showrooms.” said Michael Lock, CEO of Ducati North America. “With the Hypermotard just around the corner and the Desmosedici coming this fall, 2007 will be a banner year for our Ducati.“

The 1098 has had a halo effect on the entire product range, with dealers reporting very strong floor traffic and record levels on interest in all of the various product families and accessories.

Meanwhile the readers of two top-tier international motorcycle magazines—the German publication Motorrad and the Italian magazine In Moto—cast their votes to decreed which would be the best motorcycle of 2007. Once again, Ducati stole the scene by winning both consensus and awards—clear indicators of the continuing worldwide success enjoyed by the latest "made in Borgo Panigale" models.

After counting up the 24,853 In Moto ballots sent in to the editors, Ducati triumphed in three of the eight categories. The 1098 won first place among the sports models by taking nearly a third of the votes. The runner-up was the MV Agusta F4 1000 R and in third place it was Ducati yet again with the Desmosedici RR.
 

In the road bikes category, the Multistrada 1100 was also victorious, standing atop the podium with 12% of the votes—ahead of the Yamaha FZ1 Fazer and the Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport. In the enduro/supermotard category, it was a landslide victory for the all-new Hypermotard (to be launched in May). Sweeping aside the competition, it took a massive 33.5% of the votes—beating the BMW R 1200 GS and KTM 950 Supermoto hands down.

When Motorrad, Europe’s most-read bike magazine with a circulation of 200,000, counted their 36,672 ballots, Ducati once again cornered the votes. In the sports motorcycles category, Ducati took the top two spots with the 1098 in first place (12.1% of the vote) followed by the Desmosedici RR (11.2% of the vote). Like in Italy, it was a surprise victory for Ducati in the enduro/supermotard category where, with 18.3% of the vote, the Hypermotard beat the German BMW GS 1200 (16.8 %). Acknowledged by 29% of readers as the best sports motorcycle brand, Ducati trounced the opposition by winning over the readers of an authoritative German publication, who preferred the "Reds of Borgo Panigale" to Suzuki (12.2%) and Yamaha (10.1%).

Founded in 1926 Ducati builds racing-inspired motorcycles characterized by unique engine features, innovative design, advanced engineering and overall technical excellence. The Company produces motorcycles in six market segments which vary in their technical and design features and intended customers: Superbike, Supersport, Monster, Sport Touring, Multistrada and the new SportClassic. The Company’s motorcycles are sold in more than 60 countries worldwide, with a primary focus in the Western European, Japan and North American markets. Ducati has won thirteen of the last fifteen World Superbike Championship titles and more individual victories than the competition put together.