Development history of century old motorcycle brand Benelli after being acquired

In the 21st century, Chinese enterprises rely on their strong asset strength to “buy” overseas and set off an upsurge of overseas acquisitions. Some of the acquired brands came to China and gained new life in the Chinese market through complementary advantages and localized operation. Among them, the more representative ones are Benelli and FILA. Today, I want to talk to you about Benelli, a century old motorcycle brand born in Italy in 1911 and acquired by Qianjiang in 2005.

1、 The development history of Benelli.

The earliest locomotive brand Benelli

Benelli was founded by Ms. Teresa Benelli in 1911 and was born in Pesaro, Italy. At first, it was just a car and motorcycle repair shop. Ten years later, in 1921, it launched its first motorcycle, thus starting the journey of motorcycle manufacturing. In the following hundred years, Benelli became a world-famous motorcycle brand with brilliant track performance and excellent technical achievements. So far, it is still one of the oldest motorcycle manufacturers in Italy and the world.

In 2005, Qianjiang acquired Benelli in a wholly-owned way. At that time, many people suspected that the motorcycle brand Benelli would gradually decline. Now, 16 years have passed since Benelli was acquired. Benelli is not only popular again in the Chinese market, but also the champion of large displacement locomotive sales all year round, which has injected new vitality into China’s motorcycle industry. Benelli is an innovative journey for China’s motorcycle industry.

2、 From 1 to N, new products bring new weather.

As the first case in which Chinese motorcycle enterprises successfully acquired large foreign brands, Benelli filled the gap of large displacement motorcycles in China and accelerated the pace of the domestic motorcycle industry towards the era of large displacement. However, in the early stage after the successful acquisition, Benelli products still entered China in the form of large trade. Classic products such as tnt899 (s), CAF é 1130racer and Amazon 1130 still needed to be imported at that time, which ushered in a turning point until 2012.

In 2012, China’s first in-line four cylinder motorcycle Benelli BN600 was officially launched. From 2012 to 2021, Huanglong BN600 has been on the market for 9 years. After 7 iterations and 249 evolutions, it has become the choice of more than 50000 car owners, helping them realize China’s own dream of large displacement locomotives. In 2013, Benelli launched China’s first dual cylinder 300cc blue dragon, adding a new member to the streetcar family.

After the success of domestic streetcars, Benelli began to explore a more diversified product layout and began to capture the adv market mainly controlled by BMW and Yamaha. Adv stands for adventure. This market segment is similar to SUV in the automotive industry, with more emphasis on off-road models and storage space of side boxes, which are mostly used for travel scenes. In 2016, Benelli Jinpeng trk502, China’s first true adv, was listed, with a turnover of more than 41 million, a record. Over the past five years, trk502 has continuously promoted the upsurge of domestic motorcycle travel and spread its influence overseas. Nearly 100000 users around the world have been accompanied by TRK502.

In 2017, in the 12th year of being acquired by Qianjiang Motorcycle, Benelli held the Taishan summit. At the meeting, Benelli announced the global launch of leoncino 500, a young lion with European original design and China’s first truly retro locomotive. Leoncino series was once the king of a generation in the history of European motorcycles. Leoncino 500 is the first large displacement retro motorcycle made in China in the real sense, setting off a retro locomotive fever in China.

3、 Brand return: from international to international.

While deeply cultivating the Chinese market, Benelli has been actively layout the international market. In the Italian local market, Benelli has returned to the top three in terms of sales volume, and the sales volume of trk502 (x) single product has remained the first for one year in a row. In other European countries, Southeast Asia, India and American markets, Benelli has also made great progress all the way, selling well in more than 60 countries around the world.

On May 29, 2020, Benelli officially put forward the strategic plan of “returning to international first-line brands”, which aims to further enhance its influence in the world and always show its determination to move forward with actions. This includes restarting the three cylinder engine at the technical level and launching the flagship model 1200 gt; At the product level, several classic models have been revived. For example, the tornado series, which once enjoyed international reputation and most Benelli characteristics, has been revived through the tornado 302 model. We will wait and see the future development of Benelli in the international market.