Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1178480
KTM PRESIDENT/CEO STEFAN PIERER: PART 2 P126 Interview can't get people in Austria, so to grow production is not that easy in Central Europe, which means that the capacity they have in India is a big help for me, leaving us to focus on R&D, racing, marketing, sales and suchlike. In that case, will you consider establishing a manufacturing opera- tion in the USA, which is, after all, one of your biggest markets? If we're forced to do so, we can do it overnight. We understand very well how such operations work, since we already have six offshore assembly facilities in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, China, Malaysia and the Philippines, plus, of course, our Indian manufactur- ing base—so we have a blueprint, which makes each one just a logistical issue. But America is still our biggest market with 20% of our production going there, and what's very interesting is that the specific market segment we are in has been growing continuously for the last couple of years. Only Harley is re- sponsible for a downturn in the overall market, whereas our sales continue to grow, both off-road and on-road. Both are growing, but off-road for sure is very strong. We sold 100,000 off-road bikes last year and 160,000 street. Street is growing faster than off-road, though. Has off-road topped out? I would say it has a certain ceiling. But we have 60/70% market share, anyway! But that's the reason it's so im- portant to step into the electro-mobility market with sporty products as well, because the E-mountain bike is more or less a twist-n-go off-road Enduro motorcycle. And that's very important, because our younger customers com- ing from that area won't touch combus- tion-engined bikes anymore. So, to summarize for the future, keep on keeping on! Absolutely, we have a very bright future in front of us because our specific seg- ment of powered two wheelers is bounc- ing back as a transportation item, caused by several things. One is traffic conges- tion in urban areas, it's also money-wise, because the middle class is drying out of cash. You are quicker on a bike, you take up less space, it's cheaper to run, and with electric it's perceived as cool, and you can save the world! It's the first time that big cities are now thinking how to improve the infrastructure for powered two wheelers, to separate it from the four wheelers, to make separate roads like in The Netherlands. So it's turning around, and we are part of it. We offer a specific solution for transportation over short dis- tances, which is available here and now. The future is bright for motorcycling, and we see it as very positive specifically for all our three brands, now! CN "THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR MOTORCYCLING, AND WE SEE IT AS VERY POSITIVE SPECIFICALLY FOR ALL OUR THREE BRANDS, NOW." Pierer talks about the rumored discussions between Triumph's John Bloor and Bajaj Auto's Rajiv Bajaj (pictured) regarding the Indian company (BajajAuto) assuming control of Triumph with KTM as an interested third party.