MV Agusta->ke947 Executive Vice President Giorgio Girelli has addressed rumors that his company was interested in bringing back another Italian motorcycle brand, namely Cagiva. If his words are to be believed, it does point to the direction of a revival happening at some point, though not any time soon.

Girelli didn’t mince his words on the idea of bringing back Cagiva->ke1396, pointing out that the brand’s off-road segment would certainly complement the models MV Agusta is currently offering. Having Cagiva in the fold would certainly boost the company’s production volume, a business aspect that Girelli has been aggressive in trying to expand.

The company is currently forecasting around 12,000 units sold in 2015, a far cry from its intended goal of building 20,000 units ever year. Having Cagiva in the mix could help increase that volume, albeit at a steep cost of operating a separate brand entirely.

That’s where the predicament lies because MV Agusta is still trying to get its own house in order. Bringing back Cagiva would at least complicate that task, if not derail it entirely.

Still, there’s reason to be optimistic, especially if MV Agusta continues in this path to progress it has laid out for itself. If it can continue improving its products, it should translate to more units being sold, which would not only be great for business, but would also empower MV Agusta to seriously consider bringing back Cagiva.

For now, that’s the best case scenario. Whether MV Agusta does make it happen is an entirely different story. But for the purposes of dreaming of the return of Cagiva, here’s to hoping MV Agusta can make it happen.

If its CEO is optimistic about it, there’s no reason for us not to be.

Continue reading to read more about MV Agusta’s plans for Cagiva.

Why it matters

Back when it was still around, Cagiva enjoyed a fruitful 60 or so years before things took a turn for the worst in 2012. Since we haven’t word nary a peep from the brand as it sunk further and further into the depths of obscurity.

But Giorgio Girelli’s recent proclamations involving a return of the Cagiva brand has made me hopeful that such a day would arrive. It won’t happen soon, that much I understand. But hope springs eternal from where I come from so maybe, just maybe, a future with Cagiva bikes once again roaming the streets of this world could come to fruition in future.

A lot of things would have to happen for that to be a reality. I’m aware of that. If Harley-Davidson, a company that has far more resources than MV Agusta couldn’t return Cagiva back to its past prominence, what’s a company like MV Agusta going to do to make sure that it can pull it off?

Pirelli understands more than most that there will be a lot of discussions within MV Agusta about this, discussions that will probably turn messy by the time any decision is made.

That comes with the risk of trying to revive an old motorcycle brand when the company that’s thinking of doing it has its own set of problems and issues to deal with.

But like I said, I’m hopeful that it does happen. For a time, Cagiva produced some excellent motorcycles, most notably the Ducati-powered Elefant that won two Dakar Rally races (1990 and 1994), the WMX that won two Motocross World Championships (1985, 1986), and the GP500 that helped John Kocinski finish third in the 1994 MotoGP season.