Piaggio CEO Roberto Colaninno passes away

Chairman and CEO of Piaggio Group, Roberto Colaninno has passed away aged 80, leaving behind a 20-year legacy featuring some of the most iconic motorcycles of the modern era.

The news was confirmed by Piaggio in a press release on Saturday, 19 August, just days after his 80^th birthday. No cause of death was given.

The Italian businessman took over at the helm of the motorcycling conglomerate in 2003, which currently consists of Piaggio themselves, plus Ape, Scarabeo, Derbi, Gilera, Vespa, Moto Guzzi, and Aprilia.

As part of his role, he helped launch the three-wheeled MP3 scooter platform, which has become a popular staple of all-weather commuters across the globe. Both Guzzi and Aprilia were acquired by Colaninno and his team in December 2004 and the group is now one of Europe’s largest scooter and motorcycle manufacturers.

Earlier this month, the organisation celebrated the sale of 324,600 machines across the globe during the first half of 2023 – a 1.2% rise over the same period in the previous year.

Speaking at the time, Colaninno said: “The Piaggio Group has closed the seventh consecutive quarter to report growth, with its best results to date. At 30 June, net sales had risen by more than 11%, to over one billion euros.”

Some 267,400 of those sales were made up by motorcycles and scooters.