We hear from Massimo Tartarini the CEO of Italjet on the impact of Covid19 with the production of the new Italjet Dragster
Speaking with Massimo Tartarini, the CEO of Italjet recently and he talks about the impact of Covid-19 on the production of the new Italjet Dragster and when the first vehicles can be expected to enter the market.Massimo Tartarini says - “The Covid-19 emergency worldwide and current dramatic situation in Italy are expanding our lead time of developing the Dragster. The pandemic situation has made things difficult. There are no flights and quarantine for many countries has been increased, preventing the normal movement of our engineers. In Italy, many companies have closed for Covid-19.
Unfortunately and in spite of ourselves, the Dragster fell into it in full, creating considerable inconvenience for Italjet and its customers. Nobody more than us wants to see the Dragster in production and available all over the world, but we are working day and night for this. We are now producing a batch of 50 vehicles as commercial pre-series with final production parts in order for our tests.
The Dragster is an outstanding vehicle that deserves the highest level of quality, so these tests are mandatory in order to detect even the smallest of defects. After check and feedback, we will start mass production, and our goal is to start first deliveries to customers by end of May.
We cannot wait to see Dragster on the streets of the world!”
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Having worked with Massimo and Italjet since the early conception of the new Dragster my own personal view is that while the delays are frustrating it's somewhat to be expected given the global situation. I'm just thankful that Covid19 hasn't put a stop to the project altogether and have the utmost respect for Italjet for carrying on and fighting against global manufacturing and supply issues that we have not seen the likes of since WW2!
Rushing the new Dragster to market and cutting corners is not the answer and shows Massimo's own personal dedication to the new Dragster. To a lot of companies, producing 125-200cc machines a new motorcycle or scooter is just another product in the catalogue but for Italjet this really is a labour of love and passion, While Italjet obviously has to make the books balance this is not just about making profit but reestablishing Italjet as a high-end manufacture and laying the foundations for italjets future.
The Dragster always has been and will continue to be Italjets most famous model and gives us a hint of the direction Italjet is heading. I cant wait to see what other products Italjet come up with over the next few years, With the world going electric perhaps we could see a new high-performance electric version of the famous Italjet Pack2 from the 1980's!
Bobby Beck
