Ducati decided to shut down its production lines until March 25.

Since the beginning of the health emergency in Italy, on Feb. 24, Ducati has adopted an important series of measures to limit the probability of the virus spreading at its plant in Borgo Panigale, in a very timely manner and in advance of later arrangements. The most important was the measurement of the temperature at each person entering the plant, access was limited to necessary personnel, a strong urge to work from home, meetings with reduction of participants and distance between them and cafeteria with special procedures and revision of shifts to reduce close contact between people.

Despite all this, Ducati had already decided to suspend production from March 13 to March 18 included, in order to implement a series of protocols and actions on the production lines, to further increase the safety level of workers and to introduce a multi-shift work program to halve the number of people on the assembly line at the same time.

The postponement of the reopening to March 25 was necessary to ensure full compliance with the new guidelines (shared protocol, issued on March 14), which will require a few more days of work and modifications to the structures.

On the other hand, all activities related to the development of new products and market support continue, in compliance with the rules of conduct against the spread of the virus, making extensive use of work from home technology.

“I am proud of how Ducati’s workers are facing this difficult moment for our country,” said Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding. “My thanks go to all those who, on a daily basis and even in a difficult situation like this, are confirming the great value of a united, cohesive but also sensitive and attentive workforce. For them, for their safety and for their security, measures and choices like the ones we are making are necessary and owed. However, all the support services for our customers are guaranteed, first and foremost the supply of spare parts. We want to reassure Ducatisti and our dealers all over the world: we are organizing ourselves to be ready for the restart and, even in this period of downtime we will not fail to provide support.”