KTM PRESIDENT/CEO STEFAN PIERER: PART 2
P122
Interview
the Husqvarna and Raymon
brands as part of a joint
venture, and this year we are
already selling 65,000 units
in Europe.
Where are these as-
sembled?
Partly in Bulgaria, partly in
the Far East, but the distribu-
tion center and main hub is in
Germany. It's a joint venture
with a local family with long-
standing experience in the
bicycle business, who started
two years ago, and asked us
to do something together.
How interesting. This is
not widely known!
I know! It's because our
holding company is publicly
listed in Switzerland, so I have to do
any risky things very carefully, and
quietly. So usually you start outside
of the balance sheet to see how it's
going, and then as soon you're sure
that it works very nicely, then you can
integrate it. We use the former KTM
Industries company, which has been
renamed Pierer Mobility AG, because
we have KTM, but we also have
Husqvarna motorcycles, Husqvarna
bicycles, Raymon, WP and now
GasGas, so it's more helpful to keep
the KTM brand away from any sharp
positions.
You've announced that you'll be
entering a KTM factory race team
in a new form of racing for you,
American Flat Track. Please tell
me about this.
Yes, I think AFT is getting very
popular in the States, and indeed
worldwide through their live feed. It's
a very affordable category to access,
and I see it in the future as a good
platform for Husqvarna, especially in
the big Twin-cylinder class.
So you're going in to AFT with a
Husqvarna team?
Yes, although not next year, but
from 2021 onwards. We'll do the
small singles class with KTM where
we already won the championship,
but with a twin, it'll be Husqvarna
because it has such a huge pres-
ence in the USA, and we are in, let's
say, the learning curve of becoming
a street brand. I think flat track is a
perfect area where we can establish
Husqvarna as something other than
an off-road brand.
The natural spinoff from that will
be to make a customer bike, as In-
dian have done with their FTR750
to the point where their customers
can occasionally beat the factory
"ONLY HARLEY
IS RESPONSIBLE
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."
