That was interesting interview ..".....if you look at dictators, many of them are good at the beginning ...then people are afraid, and the dictator only hears that they are right all the time..." That is very interesting comment by any standards, but I had no idea of the management workings inside KTM. When I visited a large KTM dealership I was amazed that it was stuffed with new bikes, sometimes the top models in both colour options next to the unsold outgoing models from the previous year. That was in Claremont in France, early summer before their troubles become public.
I’ve seen the same here, dealers with 3 or 4 KTM duke 390’s lined up in a row, how many are they expecting to sell per week? Even if the dealer has space to put all its stock out, surely no more than one or two of each. Tbh I’m not sure the result will be enough to save KTM. What about the ongoing issues with camshafts in 700/890 engines that is a ‘manufacturing error’ are they recalling and fixing them all from this 250k pool of built stock? Or allowing them to circulate again. I’m just not convinced. I know a few people now looking at KTM’s because of the ‘reduced price’ but dealers have been discounting them for a while
[QUOTE="Phill748, I know a few people now looking at KTM’s because of the ‘reduced price’ but dealers have been discounting them for a while[/QUOTE] I would rather have a used, warranted Ducati or BMW. This from a 1290 Superduke owner! Tbh, even inline fours become appealing, IF there is back up. If KTM fail again, or once the bike is out of warranty, what then? Go back to a KTM (or x KTM) dealer and pay through the nose to fix it. Knowing that it probably will have more issues. Nope. Short of a BMW take over, with guaranteed, and extended, warranties and parts availability. Keep clear.
He makes some good points, especially regarding the forward journey relying on people suddenly buying the bikes that they weren’t buying. Presumably at the new reduced prices putting dealers under even more pressure! and then having to find an investor willing to take all that on
So glad I sold my 890R the week before the cam issue was in Mcn. I knew it was coming, most dealers didn’t. Got good money for it.
The video had some very interesting points. I didn't know that most of the KTM stored stock would be unsaleable in Europe due to the Euro rules since Jan. Is that accurate?
Love the bit where he eats the chocolate cams. His research is excellent, but I would offer a few extra points. KTM is not "insolvent", it is in default on one loan of many. Depending on the terms of the other loans, this may cause all loans to be in default (pari passu). So now KTM is in "administration", pending financial re-structuring, debt haircuts, possible capital raise or asset disposals. The amazing thing is how the shareholders and management could accumulate €2.8 billion of debt whilst making only about €100 million profit per year. Reckless is how I would describe it. KTM does however have assets, 265k unsold bikes plus factories etc... The US debt buyer will be expecting a break-up and asset sale to raise funds that will repay the creditors at a higher level than they paid for the thousands of loans. That is just simple debt recovery and happens all the time. I very much doubt KTM will exist as a whole any more. What may happen is the assets are separated and sold and creditors repaid according to debt seniority.
What are the Austrian government saying? Anything at all? Allegedly there are 6K employed worldwide so presumably a hefty amount of them will be Austrians?
I'm not sure i would take much notice of Fortnine or whatever his name is now...become clickbait sadly.
Basic business and investment failings. Obviously despite everything we get told, there has been plenty money around (pre covid) and investors have been desperate to invest, gambling, as ever, on the next return. Bought (invested in) a pig in poke without understanding what their money was going in to. KTM has also been run by a bunch of clowns with zero business acumen. The number of units they needed to shift, it was obvious that Superduke gen 3 1290 then 1390 r/evo/gt 890smt and similar would be small sales numbers and the wrong market sector to hit big numbers. Reputation. It counts. How you fix problems, or not, just as important as reliability. Rub customers up wrong with failed after sales, devaluing your own products and price gouging (pay for packs already installed at first service) and expect to have to work harder for custom. Having been privy to some business dealings over the years, I continue to be gobsmacked at the naivety of investors. Company valuations seem to be based on wizardry not reality, having little relation to profitability and more to do with assumed continuous growth, assets and magic dust. Assets. That is in the eye of the beholder (or the bent accountant). Could any of the accountants actually count? Im not sure.
The obvious answer is buy one - get one free - rake in a bunch of short term cash - lots of happy customers. Then close the doors and open them again as KTM (V2 ). What could go wrong
I agree with the points made here, interestingly and perhaps a positive to come out of this, is that KTM doing this stupid fit all the hardware, let you try it and make you pay for it at first service or as a separate pack just hasn’t worked at all, which will hopefully detract others from doing the same. Ducati have gone the other way in making more and more stuff optional that other manufacturers are doing standard, like cruise control, then they have hiked the prices 30% or more on their accessories. It’s going to create another Porsche situation with Ducati though because it will be ‘oh you bought the V4S and didn’t spec the optional fandango module, oh no, that’s going to make it unsellable” I worry, I do, it’s a pure leisure industry, and it needs people at the helm who really understand the motivations of the buyers and the sort of golf club service we expect when spending lots of money for a fun and fairly dangerous hobby
Ducati do appear to be doing the exact thing that KTM did regarding having to pay extra to ‘activate’ certain functions. While looking at my local showroom with the salesman I said ‘ So the bike comes with cruise control included ’, his answer was that it comes with the switches but it’s not active and other models had functions that are on the bike but the dealer needs to activate them. If this is true it’s a bit shit considering the prices they charge.
This, https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2025/february/ktm-self-administration-ends/, mentions an unconfirmed suggestion BMW might be part of the rescue. Andy
