Laverda Lives Again

LAVERDA LIVES AGAIN

MOTO LAVERDA, ONE of Italy's most respected motorcycle manufacturers, apparently has returned to life in spite of an official pronouncement of its death by Italian government officials.

The company, owned and operated by a financial concern called the Zanini Group under bankruptcy conditions for several years, finally was put into receivership under government supervision last year (see Roundup, June, 1993). When

no buyer for the company turned up, the government receiver closed Laverda’s doors.

But now Laverda is up and running in Breganze, its original home in northeast Italy, according to Roger Slater, of Slater Bros., the Washingtonstate-based Laverda importer.

Slater said the company now is called Industry Moto Laverda, or I.MO.LA, and added, “We don’t know as yet where the money has come from, but it’s obviously private funds. They’re using all the original people, including Nicola Lievore as managing director and Georgio Trevisan as stores manager. We’ve just received a large parts order that was 92percent filled.”

Slater said Laverda has an inventory of all the components required to build a small run of the highly regarded Laverda 650 sportbikes, and added, “There’ll be an announcement regarding the motorcycle product after the beginning of the year. We’re sorting out the parts supplies. That’s our aim, that’s our breadand-butter."

Jon F. Thompson