Mercedes-Benz's tuning division AMG has announced a deal with Ducati, best known for its range of particularly expeditious motorcycles.
The deal won't see the two combining to make anything fast for the road, sadly, but rather form a 'strategic cooperation' that will help the companies 'to jointly access new customer groups.'
They're going to pilfer each other's buyers, in other words. Cue some lovely pictures of the new
CLS 63 AMG and a Ducati Diavel. 'Imagine these bad boys together in your garage' is the not-so-subliminal message.
Gabriele del Torchio, the exquisitely appropriately named Ducati President, said: "In AMG we have found a partner who perfectly reflects our brand values of high performance, motorsport, excitement and our sense of unmistakable style and design." Someone from AMG said something very similar, believe it or not.
The first fruit of the union is AMG's sponsorship of the Ducati MotoGP team from 2011.
Mark Nichol - 17 Nov 2010