On June 23rd in Munderfing, KTM's historic homeland, the mood was both serious and resolute. Before shareholders gathered in the "House of Brands," the management of Pierer Mobility AG presented an ambitious recovery plan with a clear objective: to get back on track and return to profit by 2027.
Gottfried Neumeister, recently appointed CEO of KTM AG, made a frank observation. The losses do not come from a single front, but from an explosive cocktail: the deficit divisions like Pierer New Mobility et MV Agusta, an unsustainable financing model with pre-financing of up to 360 days for dealers, an explosion of production costs, and above all, overstocked stocks which weigh down the balance sheets.
Added to this is a financial structure too fragile, based largely on bank overdrafts. In other words, KTM was a victim of his own headlong rush.
Faced with the scale of the crisis, the response was brutal: reduction in production volume and staff on the Mattighofen site, stock clearance, refocusing on historic brands, and gradually abandoning the bicycle segment, long presented as a source of growth... which never really took off.
Sales of MV Agusta should be finalized by the summer, while the branch X-Bow (sports cars) will be sold to a group of investors. These sales are expected to generate positive EBIT from 2025, despite still-constrained revenue.
Discounts, sales and strategic refocusing: India and Brazil at the heart of the KTM plan
One of the most sensitive turns is the increased relocation of production towards " lower-cost partner sites ", according to the terminology used by Neumeister. TheIndia (via Bajaj) and the Brazil will become major industrial pillars of KTM in the coming years. A way to reduce fixed costs while ensuring logistical agility, particularly for the small-displacement ranges (125/390 cc).
This means that the factory of Matthighofen, the historic cradle of the orange brand, will no longer be the nerve center of production, but a premium platform refocused on high-end models and special editions.
Management also presented shareholders with a detailed schedule of production and delivery restarts, which has become a direct communication tool with dealers. Some deliveries scheduled for March have been postponed to June or even August, but the Indian chains have never stopped running.
An encouraging sign: motorcycle inventories in dealerships are decreasing faster than expected, proof of a certain return of demand.
Management announces a return to balance from here 2027This is both ambitious and risky, in a context where Asian competition, particularly from China, is strengthening, and where economic uncertainty weighs on consumers.
In the meantime, KTM must prove that it has learned from its mistakes: growth without strategic management, all-credit financing, and industrial dispersion. The strategy now implemented could work – provided there is a return to industrial and commercial discipline.
