Ducati Reports Third-Best Sales Year, Led by Multistrada Model

Ducati has never been a volume brand, instead using emotional allure and competition prowess to appeal to a specific niche of motorcycle consumers. That said, it still needs to move a healthy number of bikes to be successful, and for the third year in a row it’s posted some sales numbers worth bragging about.

At the close of 2023, the Bologna, Italy-based motorcycle manufacturer had rolled 58,228 motorcycles off the assembly line, out to dealer, and into owners’ hands. That’s down slightly from 2022’s high water mark of 61,562 bikes, but it’s still a veritable flood of two-wheeled machinery, and ultimately the third-best year ever for Ducati.

The success was driven from three predictable geographic markets—Italy, the U.S., and Germany—and, whether we want to admit it or not, one specific model. The Multistrada leads the lineup again with 10,480 of the adventure model being delivered worldwide.

The Multistrada is riding a wave of interest in adventure bikes, which are among the sales leaders for many manufacturers. The utility of an adventure bike is hard to deny, and when combined with the travel dream sold by the adventurers actually out riding ’round the world, it’s easy to see why there have never been more buyers interested in this type of bike.

The second- and third-best sellers are the Scrambler and Monster models, respectively. This follows a trend of buyers consistently choosing more approachable models—ones that suit their uses or capabilities—as compared to the superbikes that had previously defined the Ducati brand. There’s a clear parallel to the car market—this behavior is no different than European brands that sell crossovers and SUVs by the literal truckload to bankroll the limited production of the kind of stripped down, stick-shift sports cars that originally grew the brand’s faithful following.

These figures speak to evolving buyer decisions in an ever-more-multifaceted motorcycle market, but they also show a company that’s paying attention. Ducati, like Porsche, can keep building track terrors that apply to a more limited audience if they have some models that appeal to the meat of the market. (Besides, it’s not as if these “approachable” bikes are without the trademark Ducati emotion.) If that’s the price to keep the brand’s most exciting asphalt bikes coursing the toughest circuits in the world, we’re all for it.

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