Cycle News

Cycle News 2020 Issue 24 June 16

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/1259933

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 80 of 111

of us in the lockdown, and retail sales there are double digit ahead of last year. It's the con- sequence of so-called social distancing—nobody wants to join the public transportation system if they can help it, so cars and especially PTWs are benefiting, but particularly two-wheelers because of the increased traffic jams. If you look to Europe as a specific market, the electric bicycle in Central Europe is booming massively, both in the We are already on the podium, so moving up a step is my next ambition! Secondly, my vision is to enlarge our dealer network in every country, because the way we are treating our dealers plus our very wide model range makes switching to the KTM Group very attractive for dealers currently dis- tributing a competitor's products. We are already getting some of them knocking on our door, and I think a crisis like this one is also a chance to show everyone how to do the best you can do. And for- tunately, the PTW industry is on a positive upswing after corona. What effect will your shut- down at the Mattighofen fac- tory have on your overall sales projections for 2020? Do you envisage being able to regain those missing motorcycles? Due to the fact that we were closed down for two months in Austria, we're missing around 30,000 units of production. For sure, we will try to produce some of those missing quantities, but we will never manage to claw back all of the lost 30,000 motor- cycles. We can hope to get back maybe 15,000 units this calendar year if we are doing additional shifts and reducing the summer break. But for sure we and our dealers will be missing 15,000 potential sales, or even as many as 20,000. However, our retail demand looks very good, so I KTM PRESIDENT/CEO STEFAN PIERER: PART 1 P80 Interview small displacement and midsize displacement versions. So, there are two price points where we are experiencing very, very posi- tive growth, up to 10,000 euro, and up to 15,000 euro. But the very expensive big displacement motorcycles are currently at a bit of a standstill, because the eye of the customer is for sure looking ahead, and these will maybe be facing problems post-corona. How has Covid-19 affected KTM's global market positioning? I would say, first of all, that in every area of the globe we are facing the same corona conse- quences, so lockdown and other such restrictions. So, exiting it is like a competition where everybody gathers at the start line, and for the quicker ones, or the braver ones, there's the chance to take the holeshot and gain market share, and that's my ambition. Sooner or later I want to become number one in Europe in terms of registrations. Bajaj, the plant in India which builds KTM's 390 Adventure, was shut down for six weeks. It has since re-opened. "One of the things we've learned out of the corona situation is that the small-displacement models have become a very important part of the market, even in the USA."

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Cycle News 2020 Issue 24 June 16