P24
IN
THE
B
WIND
BMW SELLS HUSKY
MW announced on Thursday, January 31 that it had
sold the Husqvarna brand to a
holding company owned by KTM
majority owner and CEO Stefan
Pierer just six years after purchasing Husky from the Castiglioni family (Cagiva/MV Agusta).
Pierer owns 51 percent of
KTM with Bajaj of India owning
47 percent.
In an interview with Reuters,
Pierer said he has big plans to
grow the Husky brand.
"I want to see Husqvarna
sales double in five years time
to 20,000 motorbikes," he said,
adding that his immediate focus
would be on rejuvenating the ag-
ing line-up of off-road models.
He also said that Husky and
KTM would be managed separately.
"This way we can use common
engineering platforms to develop
a variety of models that have
completely different characteristics for each brand," Pierer said.
Husqvarna generated roughly
65 million euros selling roughly
10,000 bikes, Pierer told Reuters, while KTM sold 107,000
motorcycles with revenue of 612
million euros.
BMW, meanwhile, says the
sale of Husky is part of the realignment of its BMW Motorrad
business.
"In the context of changing
motorcycle markets, demographic trends and increasing
environmental demands, BMW
Motorrad will expand its product
offering to exploit future growth
potential," a release from BMW
stated. "The focus of the realignment will be on urban mobility
and e-mobility. By restructuring
the segment, the BMW Group
will concentrate on expanding
and utilizing the resources of the
BMW Motorrad brand. Therefore, the BMW Group signed a
purchase agreement with Pierer
Industrie AG (Austria) for the
acquisition of Husqvarna Motorcycles. The acquisition will
continued on page 26
