Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 26 JULY 1, 2014 P83 in 2012 and 70 percent in 2013. "The European market is CF- Moto's major sales outlet, ac- counting for 95 percent of our total export volume," says the company's General Manager, Zhu Xiangyang. "CFMoto's sales increased by 30 percent in Eu- rope in 2013, including Russia, so that although CFMoto is just a medium-sized motorcycle enter- prise in China, it boasts high pop- ularity and strong market share in Europe. We are also very strong in Australia, and in 2015 will make a determined attempt to increase our sales in North America with the arrival of new models." So CFMoto's 650cc DOHC parallel-twin eight-valve motor with 180-degree crankshaft (so, CFMoto as well. "We see a close connection between KTM and CFMoto in terms of how we market our products," says CFMoto's President, Lai Guogui. "We seek to make the customer feel he is welcomed into a family of own- ers when he purchases a CFMoto product, and I think this is the same for KTM. We first approached them in November 2011 at the Milan EICMA Show, and we were very pleased at the positive response we had – it seemed right away as if we had common values. The KTM brand is very well regarded among Chinese motorcycle fans, because now we are getting younger owners in the market- place who are fond of powersports spirit, and want a bike which is excit- ing and fun to ride. But you cannot sell such a motorcycle through a large company for which this would only be a very small business, although you do need to be at least a certain size to cover the whole of our large country effectively. I was very glad that Mr. Pierer and his colleagues decided that CFMoto is the correct company to produce and sell KTM models in China. We will do our best to reward this confidence in us." However, in spite of the significant proportion of powered two-wheeler sales in China represented by electric bikes and scooters (which are manda- tory in the 270 largest Chinese cities from which petrol/gasoline-engined PTW products are banned), CFMoto presently has no electric models in its range. This makes it quite pos- sible that the cool-looking E-Speed electric scooter that KTM launched at the 2013 Tokyo Show will find its way to China as part of this joint venture. And, given the lower costs of manu- facturing electric motors and espe- cially batteries in China, it may well be that the e-bike will be built by CFMoto for overseas sale under the KTM badge, just as the KTM 125/200/390 Dukes are all built in India. "I think we have chosen the right partner for this very difficult market, and now we're ready to crack on!" says KTM President, Stefan Pierer. "When I visited the CFMoto plant, I was pretty impressed by it. It seems they understand quality much more than the other Chinese manufactur- ers, and they are more - I would say stable, the sort of company you can plan a long-term relationship with. Also they're the first Chinese manufacturer to start exporting a larger capacity mo- torcycle, the 650cc twin, but secondly what impresses me is how they're sell- ing their products in the States. "The USA is not an easy market, and for a couple of years now they've been doing a great job there, and they're gaining market share based on the quality of the product, as well as their after sales service. Their spare parts delivery service is good - normally that's a weakness of the Chinese companies, but not for them – and all this gives me the impression of a consistent, stable, thoughtful and well-organized long-term partner. So that's the reason we chose CFMoto – and I'm already glad we did." Producing KTMs in China. Why not?

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