VOLUME 57 ISSUE 24 JUNE 16, 2020 P81
expect by the end of this year that
we will have at least the same
level of overall sales as we did
the year before. And there's also
a very interesting spinoff from the
crisis, which is that off-road mo-
torcycling is bouncing back very
strongly, especially in the USA.
By spending less than 10,000
euro, you can get completely
away from the coronavirus when-
ever you choose, you can do it
alone with no worries about social
distancing, you can leave the
risks of urban density and visit the
countryside, always with the best
possible protection wearing your
helmet. That's the main reason
why we're facing huge demand in
the USA for our off-road models.
To the point that some of
your dealers there are appar-
ently concerned about running
out of product. Will you be able
to supply them?
Yes, we are working very hard
on that right now. It's a nice prob-
lem to have! So, in June already
we have additional shifts planned
to fill up the shipments and get
our products to the U.S. again
on a continuous flow to meet
demand. It's a good situation,
but you have to find a way to
handle it, and you espe-
cially have to explain
to suppliers how they
must keep parts flow-
ing, things like that.
But it looks good.
Once your pro-
duction line start-
ed to run again,
Small-
displacement
motorcycles, such
as the new KTM
390 Adventure, is
in high demand
right now all
around the globe.
what models were getting the
highest build priority?
We are already on the high
point of the on-road season, so
that means the new 890R is a
priority, also the new 1290 Super
Duke. We have strong demand for
both of them, so we have to try
to meet that, they're the priority
models. In terms of off-road, just
about anything the U.S. market
needs is a high priority.
In that connection, did Bajaj
shut down for the same length
of time as KTM?
Yes, they were also totally
stopped for six weeks. However,
what's happened in India is inter-
esting. India has had one of the
toughest shutdowns, with military
control to ensure it's obeyed.
But they have certain Red Zones
where the virus is more active
than others, so it's very problem-
atic. However, while Bajaj got per-
mission to open their plants in the
middle of May, it took more than
a week to re-establish the supply
chain, and if you have a supplier
in the red zone then they'll still
