MV Holding – the holding company owned by Giovanni Castiglioni and the Sardarov family – recently reacquired the 25 percent of MV Agusta Motor shares held by Mercedes-AMG. Back to fully owning the brand, MV concentrated its efforts on the development of an all-new four-cylinder platform on which the first new model will debut at EICMA 2018.
We already knew this, though. What has now emerged, at a recent launch, is that this new model is expected to be a 1,000cc Brutale. This naked bike is expected to make its first appearance at EICMA 2018 in November. Following this model will be what the bike maker calls a ‘neo-classical’ café racer, which will debut in 2020.
However, the replacement to the F4 will not follow until 2021. When the new F4 does eventually come, it could feature a wild hybrid powertrain with crazy power figures that could rival the Kawasaki H2R. The new four-cylinder platform will leverage technologies learnt from racing in WSBK and will breathe new life into the MV Agusta line-up. It makes sense for MV to focus its energies on the Brutale rather than a new F4, as the super-naked segment is doing far better than all-out superbikes in most developed markets.
Sadly, the legendary existing F4 line now comes to an end, as the bike doesn’t meet Euro 4 regulations and will be discontinued, soon. However, the F4 will be given a glorious last hurrah in the form of a final, limited F4 ‘Claudio’ edition. This bike is named after Giovanni’s late father Claudio Castiglioni and will essentially be a road-legal version of Leon Camier’s WSBK race bike with carbon-fibre wheels and some other high-end parts. Expect very limited numbers and a sky-high asking price.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
