Technological innovation and sustainable mobility

The Group is aware of the direct and indirect interactions each product has during its life cycle with the health and safety of people and the environment in terms of the quality of the ecosystem, and targets its research work at innovative solutions to reduce pollutant emissions and increase the safety, reliability and recyclability of our products.

 The result has been the development of a new generation of vehicles which are:

• ecological, that is they are able to reduce emission of pollutant gases and CO₂ in urban areas through the evolution of traditional techniques or by making greater use of renewable and sustainable sources of energy;
• reliable and safe, enabling easy movement around town while reducing traffic congestion and guaranteeing high levels of active and passive safety and prevention;
• recyclable, to minimise environmental impact, even at the end of its useful life cycle;
• cheap to run by reducing costs per kilometre.

This general vision covers the Group's two business sectors: the two-wheeler business (scooters and motorcycles) and Commercial Vehicles business. Accordingly, the Two-wheeler and Commercial Vehicle sectors are presented separately in the following sections, along with the actions taken by the Company to guarantee the sustainability of its products.

The history of Piaggio's eco-friendly vehicles

Piaggio recognises the great value of innovation and research. Aware of the positive impact the academic world can have on its operations, the Company has been involved for several years and on many fronts in order to enhance synergies between the research community and its production activities. Piaggio partnered numerous Italian and foreign universities and research centres in 2010, including Pisa University, Florence University, Bologna University, Modena and Reggio Emilia University, Milan Polytechnic, Padua University, Perugia University, the Fiat Research Centre, the Engines Institute of the National Research Council, Naples, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa institute, Athens University, the Hellenic Institute of Transport, Athens, the Fraunhofer IAO (Stuttgart University) and the University of Prague and West Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

The objective of these partnerships is to support continuing innovation through:

• work on research and development projects (vehicle dynamics, thermal/fluid dynamics optimisation, crash simulation, electronic systems development, software development, etc.);
• participation in European projects;
• experimental PhD courses (for example on the development of hybrid motors and on vehicle acoustics);

Quality certification 

As regards quality, the Piaggio Group is committed to continually improving the performance of its processes and customer satisfaction. The Group was awarded ISO 9001 certification in 1995, a process which is a part of the Company's common culture and a resource for all Group employees. The results obtained in terms of product reliability, improving process performance, increasing customer satisfaction (internal and external customers) stem from the fact that all employees clearly understand the meaning of “ quality, customer focus, continual improvement and excellence“ and pursue these principles in their everyday activities.
In 2009 activities continued to maintain certification in conformity to leading international quality standards (UNI EN ISO 9001:2008). This certification concerns the Pontedera (Pisa), Noale (Venice) and Scorzè (Venice) sites.
Piaggio Vietnam's quality management system was certified to ISO 9001 in October 2009.