Turns out, Ducati and AMG share a lot of customers. They hope to cultivate still more.

"We share the same values, the same spirit," Ducati president and CEO Gabriele Del Torchio said.

The cooperation took the form of a product at the Frankfurt motor show where the Ducati Diavel AMG Special Edition--the first Ducati motorbike to incorporate another company's design elements--was unveiled at the Mercedes-AMG exhibit. The bike's forged wheels, sports exhaust and chrome strakes around the radiator cover are very AMG. Even the seat of the 1,198-cc, 162-hp bike is finished in AMG Alcantara.

The cooperation was a natural, since there is significant overlap between the superbike builder and the supercar maker.

AMG signed on as a sponsor of Ducati's Moto GP team last year, providing cars to the team and offering test drives to potential customers at motorcycle races. Rider Nicky Hayden is an official ambassador for the German supercar maker. Look for more examples of the cooperative agreement in the future, going both ways.

"Obviously with four wheels and two wheels you will have some difficulty sharing commonalities," AMG president Ola Kallenius said. "There is not a direct bike part that can go on a car."

However, there is plenty of room to find mutually beneficial projects. There are two dealers in the United States and two in Italy that represent both Ducati and AMG, for instance, and there is potential for many more.

"If you park a Ducati in an AMG dealership it drives traffic," Kallenius said.

The partnership, announced at last year's Los Angeles auto show, is still evolving but the two companies have been working together for several years, each benefiting from the qualities and presence of the other.

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