P34
IN
THE
WIND
KTM STILL NUMBER ONE
K
TM has retained its position
as Europe's number-one
manufacturer ahead of BMW
in terms of units sold, with another record sales year in 2013
of 123,859 bikes sold worldwide
- spearheaded by its 1190 Adventure, its best-selling model. The
news came hot on the heels of
the Austrian manufacturer thwarting strong challenges from Honda and Yamaha to score another
one-two in the 2014 running of
the Dakar Rally, with Marc Coma
leading home teammate Jordi
Viladoms on the KTM Red Bull
factory machines.
These comprised both KTM
branded motorcycles and also
those manufactured under its
newly acquired Husqvarna brand
as well as Husaberg, both of
which are in the process of being integrated into a single entity under the Husqvarna banner.
This represents a 15.6 percent
increase over the 107,142 units
sold by KTM in 2012, resulting in
a 2013 turnover of Euro 716.30
million, a 17 percent lift over 2012
revenues of Euro 612 million.
The company claims that KTM
has been the fastest growing
motorcycle brand in the world for
the past three years.
In addition to the small-capacity 125/200/390 Duke range of
motorcycles manufactured in India for the past two years by its
partner (and 47 percent shareholder) Bajaj Auto, KTM now has
The KTM 1190 Adventurer is one of the reasons that KTM was the
number one European manufacturer in terms of sales in 2013.
assembly lines in Malaysia and
Colombia, and has signed an
agreement with Chinese manufacturer CFMoto to commence
manufacture later this year of the
smaller Duke models from Bajajbuilt CKD kits in its Hangzhou
plant south of Shanghai. Similar
operations are on the horizon for
Thailand, Philippines and Brazil.
In the meantime, KTM's global
workforce increased by 150 people in the 2013 business year,
with 1849 people currently now
employed worldwide.
"Our mid-term plan is to man-
ufacture 100,000 bikes in our
Austrian factory, and 100,000
more KTMs in the Bajaj Chakan
factory in India," says KTM boss
Stefan Pierer. "So basically by
2016 we plan to manufacture
200,000 KTM motorcycles in total, worldwide - that's the target."
Considering that in 2008 the
company's volume slumped to
62,000 bikes in the face of the
global recession and collapse of
the off-road market, its remarkable turnaround seems on track
to get even better.
Alan Cathcart
