Topic: KTM in trouble

[70CB750]

KTM filed their insolvency documents today, and it turns out that they owe €2.9 billion. Was previously estimated to be less than a billion. Seriously dark times ahead, and hard to imagine CEO Stefan Pierer will survive them.

A sad day for Motorcycling and the huge supply chain.

[seanbarney41]

I saw this coming when they bought up Husqvarna and Gasgas, continued only the names, and made them identical to actual KTM branded dirt bikes, just lower quality.  It was so obviously a bad idea.  Really pissed off a lot of potential customers that were loyal to those brands and KTM.  Also, their spotty quality control has thus given a bad reputation to all the Euro dirt bike manufacturers with folks not in the know.

[simon#42]

They got very big very quickly after years being a small off road manufacturer . The decision to race in MotoGP but not to make a replica for sale or for that matter any high end sports bike is strange . Ducati have made that work for years .
Not sure if MotoGP results are that important to buyers , people still buy Hondas despite being MotoGP back markers .
3 billion is a debt they are going to struggle to survive . Feel sorry for my friends that work for them although I have heard that bmw are interested in taking a few of them on for there possible MotoGP entry.

[PeWe]

The cam issues must cost them a lot too.
Who wants a bike where the cam lobes disappear really quick?
Might be more than bad cams. Maybe wrong design/ bad quality of lubing with  holes for it.

[69cb750]

KTM on it's last reserve - Production, Brand and Job cuts to survive

KTM Are About to Go Bankrupt - Here's the Full Story

[simon#42]

500 more staff made redundant , selling the mv brand and decembers wages not getting paid . its not looking great .

[PeWe]

An old biker friend  of mine that has owned a lot of bikes since 1980  has a KTM.
He has owned many bikes with the higher power available for the time including a Kawasaki with +200hp (ca 174WHP) and really loves his KTM 790 Duke 2019.

Really good handling and fun to ride.
He has fixed the hysterical low speed behavior by something simple to increase the fuel mix at lower speeds.

Letter from KTM about eventual cam issues made him not happy.

Now KTM going down. I wonder if a company will buy it when there are design and fabrication issues to take care of?

A BMW R 12 S can be an orange alternative.
I could buy it if price was half and same power as the other 1250, ca 137hp

https://www.bmw-motorrad.se/en/models/heritage/r12-s.html

[Don R]

 I wonder if private equity firms have bled it out? Sears, K mart, Red Lobster, etc. have suffered at their hands. Squeeze out the money, load it with debt and leave it on the trash heap.