Tradition meets tech: How Moto Guzzi is modernizing its Mandello factory

Aug 20, 2025

In 2025, Moto Guzzi celebrates its 104th year of continuous operation. Throughout that century-plus span, the Italian marque has called one place home: Mandello del Lario.

The brand’s Lake Como-adjacent factory is a place rich with Guzzi history, but it’s also a place that’s overdue for a zhuzhing up. That’s where Cleveland-raised architect and Piaggio Fast Forward CEO Greg Lynn steps in, leading a multi-year remodeling project that reenvisions the OEM’s old digs.

Shortly after Moto Guzzi commemorated its centennial in 2021, the brand also unveiled plans to modernize the Mandello del Laro campus. In its eyes, the project is “more than a renovation," it’s a watershed moment, setting a path for the bike maker's future. That doesn’t mean it isn’t looking to the past for inspiration.

A rendering of Moto Guzzi's remodeled Mandello Del Lario factory. — When Moto Guzzi first revealed plans to upgrade its Mandello Del Lario facility, it projected a completion date of early 2025. Now, the grand opening is slated for September 2026. Moto Guzzi photo.

For instance, the customer center’s exterior shade partitions resemble the cooling fins found on so many Guzzi V-twins, including the liquid-cooled ones (see the V100 Mandello for proof). The museum’s “occuli” skylights (that Lynn so proudly references) call back to the turbine-style end caps on the Griso 1200 8V’s exhaust.

A rear-end shot of the Moto Guzzi Griso 1200 8V. — Discontinued in 2016, the Griso’s influence is easy to see in Lynn’s design. Moto Guzzi photo.

From the visually stunning architecture to the well-planned campus configuration, the project is an impressive feat. At the same time, Lynn and team aren't losing sight of the main objective.

The new layout may welcome visitors with a showroom, museum, and customer center, but Lynn makes it clear, improving the factory remains at the top of the list. If the overhauled assembly lines don't drive that point home, the state-of-the-art conveyor system should do so.

A shot of Moto Guzzi's newly renovated museum, with the nearby mountains providing a backdrop. — Moto Guzzi claims that its redesigned factory is where “heritage meets innovation, and tradition embraces technology.” It’s also where organic and geometric shapes collide, with Lynn taking inspiration from the surrounding scenery. Image from Moto Guzzi video.

Such advancements help optimize the Mandello facility's manufacturing process for generations to come. With more and more OEMs offshoring production for cost-cutting benefits, it's encouraging to see Moto Guzzi investing in its home plant. Hopefully, that helps Guzzi operations stay where they belong for the next 104 years: in Mandello del Lario.