2010 Ducati Monster 796 – Click above for high-res image gallery

There are a handful of automakers making motorcycles these days: Honda Peugeot , and of course BMW . That's about the extent of it, but the latter's German rivals won't be letting the Bavarian automaker keep the market all to itself for much longer. At least, not according to a recent round of rumors A couple of months ago, a report surfaced that Volkswagen could team up with Suzuki to revive the old NSU motorcycle brand under its own umbrella. Now reports suggest that Mercedes-Benz could follow suit, potentially partnering with Ducati on a two-wheeled venture of its own.The rumors are spurred by displays during Ducati events, where Mercedes unveiled a special edition SLK and marked the Italian debut of the SLS GT3 , but don't seem to have much more traction than that. A partnership between the German automaker and the Italian motorbike firm could also potentially damage the latter's close ties with Ferrari , but if the industry has taught us anything in the past few years, the sky's the limit when it comes to joint ventures.