Moto Guzzi unveiled new prototype V12 LM, natural successor of the historical Le Mans, designed by two masters like Miguel Galluzzi and Pierre Terblanche.

The Piaggio Group's motorcycle divisions unveiled their new collections on the opening day of Milan's EICMA Show this week. The Italian Group presented a wide range of novelties, including 18 new products. Scooter, motorcycles and much more: there are also several prototypes anticipating the new urban ecosustainable trend that is going to be the Group's main focus in 2010.

Commercial Director Stefano Sterpone is clear about the Group's intent: "Despite a very hard year, Piaggio still represent 20% of the whole motorcycles market; classic models like Vespa and Scarabeo are a solid base to build in every season."

The biggest novelties come from the Aprilia side, with the new RSV4 R, a road version of the bike led to the success in the Superbike Championship by Max Biaggi, and the brand-new DorsoDuro Factory, a perfect match between sporty attitude and high performances. Moto Guzzi unveiled new prototype V12 LM, natural successor of the historical Le Mans, designed by two masters like Miguel Galluzzi and Pierre Terblanche. Piaggio also has presented in Milan a new model of 3-wheel hybrid Mp3, while fashionable Vespa 300 GTV Montenapoleone is a clear tribute to the host city of EICMA.

Piaggio arrived in the show as its Piaggio Veicoli Commerciali division was recording that its market share in Italy increased once again in October. Piaggio Veicoli Commerciali deliveries in Italy in October 2009 – for a total of 461 vehicles – rose by 3.6% from October 2008. With 4,447 vehicles shipped from January to October 2009, Piaggio Veicoli Commerciali saw a 5.8% improvement in sales in the first ten months of the year, compared with 4,203 vehicles shipped in Italy in the first ten months of 2008. Market share increased by 0.8 of a percentage point, taking the Piaggio Veicoli Commerciali share to 3.0% of the Italian market for the period January-October 2009. This compares very well with 2.2% in the year-earlier period.

Performance at Piaggio Veicoli Commerciali was even more significant when compared with general industry performance, which remained extremely weak with a fall in sales of 25.2% in the first ten months of 2009 and 14.3% in October compared with the corresponding periods in 2008. In this scenario, customers continue to choose the Piaggio Veicoli Commerciali offer, specifically the environment-friendly models with LPG, methane and electric engines, which, overall, accounted for almost 75% of Piaggio Group total sales in Italy in October. Another significant trend was the growing importance of the chassis versions, reflecting the keen interest of fitters in exploiting the flexibility of the Piaggio Porter and Porter Maxxi to install a whole range of personalised fittings to suit every possible requirement.