Marzocchi To Close Shop Again? 28

We've just stumbled on this piece of news on an Italian Moto site, and other sources corroborate the story for now - Marzocchi's owner Tenneco has apparently decided to finally exit the suspension business altogether, and as a result will be shutting down Marzocchi's Italian operations indefinitely, as indicated in a letter sent to the staff of the company's Bologna facility. This leaves 120 people out of a job, and a lot of uncertainty regarding continued support for current Marzocchi owners. Production is apparently set to carry on until the end of the lease of the current facility at the end of September, to then cease. The trade unions are involved and it would appear that talks between the owners and the staff are currently at stalemate. Whether or not this only concerns the moto products (made in Italy) or MTB as well (produced elsewhere) is not 100% clear at present.

Marzocchi was already in trouble back in 2011, but had recently announced a slew of new MTB products and certainly appeared to be headed in the right direction. It is unclear at present what the effect on the MTB side of the business might be, and time will tell if this storm can be weathered too, but the outlook appears bleak for one of mountain biking's most iconic suspension brands if the facts alluded to in the Italian press are verified. We'll try to find out more as soon as possible.