Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Press reports from Europe say that Aprilia is in financial trouble.

According to the reports, the company has been cut off by parts suppliers who haven’t been paid, in turn shutting down production lines, and the company faces bankruptcy if it can’t make a $7.5 million May 3 interest payment on bank loans of close to $200 million.

Reached by phone, Aprilia USA PR Manager Robert Pandya told Roadracing World “I have no answers. I don’t know what’s going on. I know they stopped the Moto Guzzi production line to allow one end of the line to catch up with another, but I don’t know if it’s anything more than a production-line realignment.

“We haven’t heard anything from Italy,” continued Pandya, who said he had placed several calls to company headquarters in Italy and was awaiting an answer. “I know (Aprilia Owner Ivano) Mr. Beggio has been looking for financial partners, which is not surprising given the pace of development of new models we’ve introduced. As far as the doors closing at the factory or the company going into bankruptcy, I don’t believe that and we haven’t heard anything about that from Italy.”