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/464773
VOL. 52 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 18, 2015 P85 year before it was 22,000. So this is still a growth sector with a 10 percent increase year on year. I know I will satisfy many people by assuring them of this–KTM will stick with making two-strokes. We are also doing everything we can to fulfill Euro 4 requirements with them. We won't give up on two-strokes, because we have a huge heritage in that. We are the market leader, and we have a very faithful, very reliable customer base. Our success is a little bit based on the current finan- cial crisis, because customer liquidity is going down, and still with a two-stroke you can do more or less everything yourself. Maintenance is much less expensive and even enjoyable. People like to do it. And also the bike is lighter and easier to ride. And talking of light and easily accessible bikes, we will continue to make minibikes for the next generation of kids, especially the 85. We have a new one on the way which I would say is the first professional level entry door for future World Champions. It sounds like KTM is in very good shape. What are your future plans for the company? We have a very ambitious strategic plan for 2020, by which time we want Husqvarna to be the number three European manufacturer, and for us to become the global number three among the sports motorcycle manufacturers. That means we have two Japanese to completely overtake. We already passed Suzuki in all developed markets, and then next we have Kawasaki still in front of us, but coming closer. What will it take to achieve this? We will build 250,000 units in the various different sectors, with both brands—Husqvarna and KTM. At that stage will you bring KTM to market? Well, we are still publicly listed, but with very little stock flow. It's just to see in your newspaper every day what is the current valuation. Honestly speak- ing, we have a clear relationship between Bajaj and myself, so I think it's working very well and there's no plan to sell any percentage of KTM AG on the stock market. But what I am indeed doing is to float our holding company, Cross Industries, on the Vienna Stock Exchange this year, and this will give someone who likes what we're doing with KTM, or WP, or Pankl, or Wethje Composites or any other of our different activities, the chance to get involved by buying a slice of the group. So Cross Industries owns a majority share- holding in all those companies? Yes, except I sold 51 percent of Wethje to Mitsubishi, which is the Japanese world market leader of composite fibers, because you need that raw material producer otherwise you get squeezed in a sandwich. I'm going to help them in their networking in the German premium industry, and in detailed management, but the lead in the invest- ment is from Mitsubishi's side. So for the consoli- dated balance sheet of Cross Industries, it means we are talking about 1.1 billion Euro in revenues in 2014, and an EBIT profit of around 90 million Euro, which I would say is very good. So I'm putting that on the stock exchange and it'll be well received in Austria, because they'll be very happy to see a serious industrial company floated on the stock exchange alongside all the real estate companies, banks and hedge funds. We'll be going on the Stock Exchange in May this year, after the shareholders meeting in April. CN