It has been a hellacious 12 months for KTM, because it’s gone from one of many powerhouses of the business, a titan of producing and motorcycling, to nearly dying due to some serious financial screwups. Almost all the things was leveraged to the hilt to help an acquisition model that saw the company grow rapidly.
Nevertheless it was overconsumption, and all the things hit the proverbial fan when client spending fell, but pricing and manufacturing did not fall with it.
The model has since been saved by Bajaj, which was already producing KTM’s small-displacement motorcycles like the new 390s, and bought a wholesome infusion of money to not only restart production, but additionally start to pay off its creditors, and rent people after mass layoffs. And, for those who’re to imagine KTM’s new CEO Gottfried Neumeister, within the brief month after its saving, it is nearly instantly on the precise footing. And it is already bought greater than 100,000 bikes this yr globally. Hey, that sounds nice!
And that is the headline I’ve seen in every single place throughout motorbike and powersports media. However for those who dig into what KTM’s press launch really states, the truth of the scenario is drastically totally different. One that does not help its return to Titanic heights.
Yeah, KTM is not saying whether or not these 100,000 bikes bought are outdated bikes that’ve been languishing on dealership tons or embody the 50,000 new bikes it is shipped to dealerships. And even when these 100,000 bikes are all outdated bikes, there are nonetheless one other 150,000 bikes sitting on tons. Some are in all probability even from 2023.
Photograph by: KTM
KTM’s press launch states, “Within the first half of 2025, KTM delivered 50,286 bikes to sellers and importers,” including, “Greater than 100,000 bikes have been bought to finish prospects worldwide.” Now, two issues. First, delivered is not bought. Delivered is simply that, delivered. Not bought. And with dealerships being what they’re, they have a tendency to sit down on merchandise for slightly bit earlier than they’re bought. It is why KTM had a year’s worth of idle inventory on dealership floors when shit hit the fan final yr.
The model even admits this, stating, “As a result of optimistic gross sales figures within the first six months, KTM was in a position to considerably scale back stock ranges.”
And second, KTM does not say what the breakdown is of these bikes delivered. However we all know a number of issues primarily based on what KTM has already acknowledged publicly about its manufacturing course of this yr. And that is these bikes are possible the 390s that Bajaj was already producing, not these out of Mattighofen.
See, due to the manufacturing pauses all year long, KTM acknowledged that it had solely built around 4,000 motorcycles in Austria. The final pause lifted only some weeks in the past, however the firm was nonetheless having components provider points attributable to non-payment and collectors knocking at their doorways. Nevertheless, in one other press launch, it acknowledged that the brand new small-displacement 390 lineup wouldn’t be affected by the pauses, and would attain dealerships in time as a result of they’re manufactured by Bajaj, not KTM. So these 50,000 new bikes are possible almost all of the 390s.
However once more, KTM did not provide a breakdown of what is been bought, what mannequin years dominate these gross sales, and the way this has really affected KTM’s piling up stock. And that is essential, as when RideApart checked out a handful of dealerships all through america when the story about its stock broke, there have been various sellers with bikes from 2023 nonetheless. One dealership close to me nonetheless has 2023 bikes, together with 19 fashions from 2024. And that is only one single dealership out of the hundreds it has.
So is KTM out of the woods as these different headlines, and Neumeister’s statements, would have you ever imagine? I would not begin counting my chickens simply but.
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