Presentation of ETV 1000 Caponord.

Presentation of Scarabeo and Atlantic.

2003 saw the launch of the new Rsv 1000, which moves the limits for sporting two-cylinder bikes still further forward.

In 2004 Aprilia returned to the off-road sector, and immediately won the Supermoto S2 world championship (actually the first world championship won with a four-stroke engine), with the revolutionary Supermotard two-cylinder Sxv 4.5, a bike that reiterates and renews Aprilia's cardinal features of technical, sporting and stylistic innovation.

However, 2004 is above all a year that marks a change in the company: the global motorcycle market is in a state of crisis and the weight of acquiring the Moto Guzzi and Laverda brands (which took place in 2000) makes a change in company structure necessary.

On December 30th 2004 Aprilia was, in fact, acquired in full by the Piaggio Group (President Roberto Colaninno; Vice-President Matteo Colaninno; Managing Director Rocco Sabelli; General Manager Gianclaudio Neri), along with Moto Guzzi, thus going to form part of the most important European motorcycle pool, and the fourth most important group in the sector in the world, with a turnover of about 1.5 billion Euro, a production capacity of over 610,000 vehicles per year and present in 50 Countries world-wide.

The Aprilia brand will be managed by Leo Francesco Mercanti, who is backed by extensive experience in the motorcycle sector, gained firstly in Aprilia itself, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, and later within the Piaggio Group.
The Piaggio Group's strategic plan for the Aprilia brand aims at strengthening its leadership of the market, with an eye to maintain and develop brand identity, also through confirmation of the R&D and production centres at Noale and Scorzè.
In particular, considerable investments are foreseen in order to pursue, among other things, widespread renewal of the Aprilia product range, with development of new models and technologically advanced engines both in the scooter and middle and top-range motorcycle sectors, whether on or off road; confirmation and development of Aprilia's presence in the Road Racing and off-road Championships; strengthening of the management team with the entrance of high-level professional figures, which is already taking place in the technical, commercial and marketing departments; improvement of quality and customer satisfaction levels.