Moto Morini importer/distributor to drop brand
Moto Morini, the other other Chinese-owned Italian brand, has lost its distributor in the UK and much of Europe.
Moto Morini – maker of the X-Cape 700, Calibro bagger, and a handful of intriguing models that have yet to find their way over here – is set to lose its UK importer/distributor at the end of the year.
The news was delivered via a terse email from distributor MotoMondo, sent to the Visordown inbox late Friday afternoon.
“SIMA announces the end of the distribution of the Moto Morini brand in France as of 31 December 2025. This date automatically marks the end of MotoMondo’s role as importer of Moto Morini for the Benelux, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Austria. From that date, SIMA and MotoMondo will cease all activities related to the sales, distribution and promotion of Moto Morini products in the aforementioned countries.”
The email explains that on New Year’s Day 2026, the nominally Italian brand will be someone else’s obligation, though it does not say who.
“[The new importer] will be responsible for the continuity of aftersales, the supply of parts and the technical support for vehicles that have already been sold,” MotoModo’s email explains.
Moto Morini was founded in Bologna in 1937. The company followed the traditional Italian route of making enviable motorcycles that inspire a strong, emotional following, but not really achieving financial success. It was bought by Cagiva in the 1980s. When that company was broken up in the 1990s, the name fell into Ducati hands, who chose to do nothing with it.
The name was purchased by Franco Morini Motori spa (founded by the nephew of the guy who founded Moto Morini) and a relaunch was attempted in 2004. It fell flat and bankruptcy came five years later.
All kinds of stop-start action ensued, until 2018, when the brand was purchased by Chinese mega-corporation Zhongneng Vehicle Group, which produces roughly 800,000 two-wheelers a year.
Since then it has produced a number of intriguing and affordable motorcycles – only a handful of which are actually available in the UK – but seems to have struggled to gain traction amid the current flood of intriguing and affordable motorcycles from China and India.
Moto Morini currently has a UK and Ireland dealership network of almost two dozen locations. Perhaps the new year will bring happier times for the brand. We look forward to seeing who picks it up.
For its part, MotoMondo says it remains “fully committed to ensuring a smooth transition for our dealers and customers.’
Either way, this puts a damper on Moto Morini’s EICMA plans. It is scheduled to give a presentation at 11:15am UK time on Tuesday 4 November. Rumours have been swirling that the company is set to reveal an enduro model.
For more motorcycle news written by motorcyclists, stick with Visordown.
Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
