Things are moving fast and it’s not easy to follow the financial ups and downs of KTM’s parent company Pierer – but we’ll have a go.
Last month, as we went to press, the firm was facing a ‘crunch’ meeting of its various creditors, in an attempt to resolve the dizzying levels of debt incurred by the firm. Figures of more than €2 billion had been reported, and the future looked bleak. However, a deal was brokered in Austria at the end of February, that saw creditors accept an investment plan which will pay off around a third of the debts. As ever, the money folk have to tread a line between taking the nuclear option of liquidation, and selling off all the assets in a fire sale, or accepting a smaller sum, with a restructuring of the debt, and reorganisation of the company.
Exact details of the new investment plan are unclear, but it’s thought that giant Indian firm Bajaj and Chinese bike maker CFMoto are heavily involved. Those two brands had strong links with KTM, making engines and bikes for each other, and distributing their products in various global markets, so it makes sense that they have remained part of the story. There are also persistent rumours that BMW, based just over the German border in Munich, is taking an interest, though it’s even less clear what that firm’s role would be.
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Back in the real world, here in the UK, KTM owners are obviously worried about the future from a practical point of view. Will parts remain available? Has the value of my bike plummeted? In the short and medium term, the firm is still operating as normal, and is promising parts supply and dealer backup will remain unaffected.
There has been some deep discounting, though – the firm is reported to have thousands of unsold bikes in stock – and if you paid full price for a KTM 1390 Super Duke last year, you’ll not be happy. On the other hand, there are some real bargains out there now if you don’t mind taking a bit of a risk. And KTM is also now offering a four-year warranty on 2023/24/25 model twin-cylinder bikes (the parallel twin 790 and 890 and V-twin 1290 and 1390s) in an attempt to reduce worries about both its mechanical and financial reliability.
Finally, it seems inevitable that the extensive race operations of the group will now come under the microscope. It might be hard to justify a megabucks scheme like the winning-lite MotoGP project if you’ve just had to give a hard-luck story to people you owed hundreds of millions of Euros to. Things seem set in place now for 2025, but 2026 and beyond might be another question.
