FIRST RIDE
P58
2013 KTM 390 DUKE
MidiMono
We ride the biggest little Duke
BY ALAN CATHCART
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HEIKO MANDL
G
reat business is best done by those
who have one Big Idea. They sell the
hell out of it, and then build on that to
diversify upwards. Look at Volkswagen, McDonalds, Dunlop, Coca-Cola, Honda, etc.
Last year, KTM overtook BMW to become
Europe's largest motorcycle manufacturer by
selling 107,142 units - more than 32 percent
up on the year before, and a big increase on
its previous best-ever annual sales back in
2007. Back then KTM was predominantly an
off-road specialist, and it sold 92,385 bikes.
Its 2012 record volume came on the back of
its Big Idea in street motorcycles – the Duke.
Some 22,000 examples of the KTM Duke
sold last year were built in the Bajaj - split
between the 125cc version as an entry-level
model for mature markets, and the 200cc for
developing markets.
"In Asia and South America, the 200cc
displacement is very popular, because there
you are not restricted on your driving license
to a 125cc capacity according to age, as in
Europe," says KTM's President/CEO Stefan
Pierer. "So the relationship between Bajaj and
KTM is a perfect fit - Bajaj is getting technology for its own products, and for KTM we're
getting our entry level and beginner's bikes
for mature markets sold into global emerging markets as prestige products, which is
the best of both worlds. Under our mid-term
plan for the next five years, by 2017 we plan
to produce 100,000 KTM motorcycles annu-
The KTM 390 Duke
is the biggest of the
Dukes manufactured
in India by KTM's
partner, Bajaj.
