MV Augusta owned by Harley-Davidson. September 2008

"We are thrilled to welcome the MV Agusta family of customers and employees into the Harley-Davidson family of premium motorcycle brands," said Harley-Davidson, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jim Ziemer. "Our primary focus with this acquisition is to grow our presence and enhance our position in Europe as a leader in fulfilling customers' dreams, complementing the Harley-Davidson and Buell motorcycle families," Ziemer said.

Retail sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles have grown at a double digit rate in Europe in each of the last three years, as the Company has increased its strategic focus on global markets.

MV Agusta Group adds two lines of motorcycles to the Harley-Davidson, Inc. family, a line of exclusive, premium, high performance sport motorcycles sold under the MV Agusta brand, and a line of lightweight sport motorcycles sold under the Cagiva brand. MV Agusta's F4-R motorcycle, powered by a 1078cc in-line four-cylinder liquid cooled engine, is rated at 190 hp.

Harley-Davidson has named Matt Levatich as Managing Director of MV Agusta Group.