Benelli

Benelli S.p.A. It is one of Italian motorcycle manufacturers, founded in 1911 in Pesaro by Teresa Benelli and six of her children, Giuseppe, Giovanni, Francesco, Filippo, Domenico and Antonio. For much of the 20th century it was characterized by the development of high performance motorcycles, which were sold and exported to markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States. The firm had great successes from its flagship model, the Benelli Tornado, however in the late 1970s, it had to endure its first closure due to the opening of the European market to Japanese producers. After several attempts to re-found the brand, finally in 1997 it returned to the market thanks to its main investor, Andrea Merloni. Since 2005, Benelli is part of the Chinese Qianjiang consortium.