To those of you who scoffed at the idea of Harley-Davidson->ke300 venturing into the world of electric motorcycles->ke3364 with the LiveWire Concept, well, prepare yourselves for another bombshell. Ducati->ke622, builders of wicked Italian sports bikes->ke631, isn’t shutting the door on the possibility of building…a scooter. You guys ok? Did anybody faint?

This is no April’s fool joke, either. Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali said as much, basically telling Moto.it that the thought of one day seeing a Ducati scooter isn’t as blasphemous as some people believe.

That said, Domenicali did coat his comments by saying that if Ducati does venture into the world of scooters, it’s going to have to do it while keeping the company’s core brand elements intact. Unless he’s trying to throw some shade on his statements, I’m guess that he’s talking about scooters that will carry Ducati’s renowned styling and performance characteristics and will be as desirable to consumers like any other Ducati machine.

That’s the first part of the equation. The other part is to make sure that a Ducati scooter will sell, which I don’t see the company having any problems accomplishing, especially in markets where small-displacement urban rides are in high-demand. That could mean anywhere from China, South America, India, and even Southeast Asia.

If Ducati wants to get into the scooter game, it’s got the resources to do so. Apparently, it also has the support of its CEO and that bodes well for the possibility of seeing Ducati scooters in the future.

Click "continue reading" to read more about Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali's belief that scooters have a place in Ducati.

Why it matters

I’ve never been the type who criticizes anybody who makes decisions based on what he thinks is best for his business. I wasn’t opposed to Harley-Davidson entering the electric motorcycle segment and I’m not going to hold it against Ducati for at least debunking any notion that it was too high-brow to build mainstream scooters.

If the market dictates it and there’s significant enough demand for Ducati scooters, then by God go for it, Ducati!

Besides, it’s not like other premium motorcycle companies haven’t ventured this route in the past. BMW already crossed this bridge and last I checked, it’s doing quite well in that segment. You can even say that BMW’s scooter-type models have become a nice complement to its high-performance bikes.

What’s stopping Ducati from doing the same? To be fair, Domenecali didn’t say anything that would make you think that Ducati was actually planning on building scooters. He only threw out the notion that there’s a possibility that it does if it can justify it from a business point of view.

I fully support it, actually. A Ducati scooter will definitely be a sight on the road, whatever shape or form it comes in. If it’s going to help the company achieve its business goals moving forward, then no one can really tell the company otherwise.