These ‘pocket-sized’ multinationals haven’t run out of fuel yet. The Guzzi case

These days, the opening (today, in fact) of a new manufacturing plant evokes the traditional custom of celebrating with roast veal. With the reopening of factories in September, one certainly cannot ignore the clouds gathering over the Italian industrial system, with two disputes standing out above all others: that in the household appliances sector involving Electrolux (Swedish-owned) and Beko (Turkish-owned), and the other in the steel industry with the new round of reorganisation at Ilva. Moto Guzzi, however, is celebrating. Owned by the Piaggio-Colaninno group since 2004, it has taken a decision that will delight enthusiasts of the industry-territory partnership. It has, in fact, decided to invest in the historic factory in Mandello Lario, in the Lecco area, and to give it a complete overhaul, thereby combining respect for tradition with a drive for innovation. The formal occasion is the brand’s 105th anniversary, but the real challenge, of course, is to adapt in order to tackle international competition (BMW, KTM, Triumph and Royal Enfield) and market turbulence with greater vigour. The Lecco plant has been redesigned in two key ways for this occasion. The assembly lines have been automated and the entire facility has been redesigned to serve as both a production hub (capable of producing 30,000 motorbikes a year) and a cultural centre, featuring a museum, a shop and a café, all aimed at bridging the gap with the brand’s enthusiast base and turning a visit to the Mandello Lario factory into a truly memorable experience. American architect Greg Lynn was commissioned to lead the project, and the plant’s inauguration will be accompanied by a motorbike rally and a grand finale parade designed to be as spectacular as possible. Business, tourism and entertainment.

The Guzzi case demonstrates that Italy’s ‘pocket-sized’ multinationals have not, so to speak, run out of steam. On the contrary, they are pursuing paths of global growth by making some of the industry’s most recent acquisitions their own and forging that intertwining of local roots and cosmopolitanism which forms the bedrock of our export successes. No data is available on the Guzzi business itself, only group-wide figures. We can therefore only report that, following a difficult 2025 marked by a decline in volumes and revenue, the first half of the current year has proved more satisfying for Michele and Matteo Colaninno, with an 8.5 per cent increase in sales and a 3.2 per cent rise in revenue. All this has been achieved by pursuing a marketing strategy aimed at reinforcing the high-end positioning of the group’s products. Labour relations are, according to local trade unionists, “tough but focused on finding solutions”. The workers, according to Lorenzo Ballerini, secretary of the Fim-Cisl union in Monza-Lecco, are satisfied with the new factory, which they have already had the chance to see, and recognise how Piaggio has managed to revitalise the brand. “When I first started following the group in 2020, there were just over 90 people employed at Guzzi; today there are between 220 and 230.” Ballerini is not concerned that the new automated production lines might reduce employment in the long term; on the contrary, he welcomes the fact that they help to eliminate the heaviest tasks.

However, Lombardy in September is not all about Guzzi; in fact, the CGIL has just published a report listing 19 corporate crises in the region. In truth, the confederation’s secretary, Luca Stanzione, has hinted at a growth forecast for Milan which is expected to reach 1.6 per cent this year – a figure which, in our view, is clearly flattering when compared to the national figure of zero point something, and puts the economic alarm bells into perspective. The prevailing sentiment is that Milan and Lombardy are even more central to Italy’s development, that the north inevitably relies on the skills and expertise of the city of Ambrogio, and that this region remains highly attractive to international talent and capital. The surge in applications to open data centres, after all, amply demonstrates this.