VOL. 52 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 10, 2015 P67
These are separate mod-
els, plus we took out the best
Husqvarna dealers and inte-
grated them with the existing
Husaberg dealer network, and
what came out of that was a
very strong dealer network with
great potential for the future. So
it was that outstanding suc-
cess that convinced me to go
much earlier than I had already
intended in an on-road direction
with Husqvarna. And that's what
we are doing now, very aggres-
sively.
So besides the off-road
range, we will produce a
complete family of Husqvarna
streetbikes from 125cc up to
390cc on a joint Bajaj-built
platform with KTM. And we will
do the same thing on made-
in Mattighofen platforms, all
the way from a single-cylinder
690cc up to the 1300cc Super
Duke. These will all be distinctly
different models badged as
Husqvarnas, with a quite differ-
ent concept than the equivalent
KTM. You will see a real cool-
looking power cruiser. You will
see modern classics combined
with state of the art compo-
nents, which will bring back the
kinds of bikes you had in the
early '70s into the '80s, but in a
modern context. They won't be
retro like the others—you know,
old fashioned, cheap, recycled
junk. They'll have really high
tech components, but aimed at
easy riding, easy rideability.
The New Classic. That's the
theme of Husqvarna, with KTM
as the Ready to Race brand, and to-
gether with those two distinct brand
concepts we can cover the whole
motorcycle world. New Classic—it's
not retro, but a new definition, a
new market sector taking into con-
sideration that not everybody wants
to go racing, or to ride like they are
doing that every day. Easy riding,
cool riding, but with state of the art
technology. That's Husqvarna, the
New Classic.
What's your projection for
Husqvarna's sales volume in
the future, based on this brand
concept?
I said in my press conference at
EICMA that in 2020 Husqvarna has
to become number three in Europe.
And I stand by that clear mission
statement. It's very simple: Number
one is clearly KTM, number two is
my favorite competitor, BMW, and
number three must be Husqvarna.
So it's a clear message that with
Husqvarna we have to overtake first
Ducati and then Triumph. You have
to face up to your competitors and
say, "Okay, let's go. Let's go rac-
ing!" It's a good message for Mr.
Piech [VW Audi chairman], and a
good message for Mr. Bloor [Tri-
umph owner]. Let's go racing! Only
in the market place this time—in the
showroom, not on the racetrack.
So that means that by 2020
Husqvarna must be selling at
least 50,000 bikes a year, be-
cause that's what Triumph claims
to be selling at the moment.
In fact, it's just 35,000 basic
sales. And based on that New Clas-
sic on-road concept, for sure we'll
do it.
"ORIGINALLY
WHEN WE
STARTED WITH
AN ELECTRIC
OFF-ROAD
BIKE ALMOST
SEVEN YEARS
AGO, IT WAS
PRACTICALLY
FORCED ON US
BY THE FACT
THAT IT'S
BECOMING
MORE OR LESS
FORBIDDEN TO
RIDE OFF-ROAD
ANYWHERE
IN CENTRAL
EUROPE."
