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Dainese Moves Production from Italy to Africa

Italian motorcycle clothing specialist Dainese recently announced it is planning to move production to North Africa by closing down its plant in Italy, resulting in a loss of 200 jobs. The decision came after Dainese reported its sales were down over 25 per cent in 2009.

The company, who also owns Mavet and AGV helmets, is moving their plant in Molvena, Italy across the Mediterranean Sea in Tunisia, where the company already has two production plants.

According to visordowne.com, the existing plant in Italy will remain as the company’s base for design and development and leathers for the company’s professional riders like Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Max Biaggi.

The company stated that despite reporting an operating profit of around €700,000 (approx £609,000) from a turnover of €105m (notably lower than a target of €150m), is saddled with around €33m of debts. After negotiations with trade unions, the company has agreed to invest €2,000 per redundancy for re-training purposes.

Dainese leathers have been produced in Vicenza since being founded by current President Lino Dainese in 1972. Its D-air Racing airbag system was first tested by Marco Simoncelli, in November 2007. Since then, the system went through some important modifications that improved its performance and the rider’s comfort.

The volume of the sack was reduced, the protective areas were redistributed, and the system's inflation pressure was increased. The airbag deflates all by itself and the suit returns to its original form.

The new device is housed completely inside the suit and therefore does not require removal after opening because it is the suit itself that expands to permit the raising of the sack. Moreover, its total weight has been further reduced by around 20%.
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