Following the announcement by new Husqvarna Motorcycles owner Pierer Industries that it is closing down the company’s factory at Cassinetta di Biandronno in Italy’s Varese region and transferring production to a KTM plant in Austria, local Italian politicians and trade unionists fighting to save the jobs of 212 workers involved have reportedly requested an urgent meeting with the Swedish ambassador in Rome.
Their argument is that the proposed abrupt closure and job losses are discrediting the Husqvarna name and therefore Sweden’s national reputation. All Husqvarna branding rights still belong to the Swedish Electrolux Group. The brand, as applied to motorcycles, has been successively licensed, first to Cagiva after it bought the bike concern from Electrolux, then BMW and latterly Pierer.
Electrolux uses the Husqvarna brand name for its own purposes on a domestic white-goods range. It also licenses it to other former subsidiaries — a sewing machine manufacturer and a leading producer of agricultural and forestry equipment. Husqvarna was originally a gunsmith before moving into motorcycles — as was Britain’s BSA.