A couple of years ago, Lapo Elkann, the car-nut grandson of the late Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli, was outraged that Volkswagen had agreed to buy Ducati, the Italian motorcycle company best known for its lean, testosterone-laden road missiles. In a text message to me, he said, "Ducati has to stay Italian" (I had interviewed him not long before about other matters).

Elkann toyed with the idea of bidding for Ducati to keep its bloodline pure but couldn't compete with Europe's largest car maker. Ducati is now a brand within Volkswagen's Audi marque.

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Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com