Hard to know where the OK for this came from. Ducati is owned by Lamborghini, which is owned by Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen... And Ducati's business seems to be thriving, so it's not desperation. That is perhaps a sharp comment about testing brand elasticity.
I respect a lot what Ducati has done with their products and particularly image over the past decade or so, but maybe this decision came from 'higher up', where the understanding of the Ducati brand is more tenuous. As Wikipedia puts it, regarding the purchase of Ducati by (eventually) Volkswagen:
"Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch, a motorcycle enthusiast, had long coveted Ducati, and had regretted that he passed up an opportunity to buy the company from the Italian government in 1984. Analysts doubted a tiny motorcycle maker would have a meaningful effect on a company the size of Volkswagen, commenting that the acquisition has "a trophy feel to it," and, "is driven by VW's passion for nameplates rather than industrial or financial logic"."