Actual news on the KTM purchase of Husqvarna

[rasputin]

There´s a long tradition of BMW eliminating competition here in Germany. After re-unification, BMW got rid of the very popular East German manufacturer MZ.

nice conspiracy theory, but bmw had nothing to do with the death of mz. mz comitted suicide, several times.

that long article contains a lot of truth, bythewy, but also a lot of opinion, and some plain bull... for example, the alleged development cost of 10 million euro for the nuda.

r

 

[Sparrowhawk]

It is hard to imagine how these guys get any work done with all the time they spend sitting around talking. More from Motorcross Action. The only news is confirmation of a 690 Husky in the future.

http://www.motocrossactionmag.com/M...PROCESSES-OF-THE-MAN-WHO-SAVED-KTM-10778.aspx


THE THOUGHT PROCESSES OF THE MAN WHO SAVED KTM

Stefan Pierer On Roger DeCoster, Supercross, BMW, Husqvarna, Husaberg and the future

KTM’s Chief Operating Officer Stefan Pierer came to KTM 20 years ago when it was in the throws of bankruptcy. With calculated and careful moves, Pierer’s leadership turned KTM from an also-ran into the most powerful motorcycle racing company in the world. Under Stefan Pierer’s guidance sales increased to the point that KTM sold 108,000 motorcycle in 2012—most of them offroad bikes. KTM is now the fastest growing motorcycle company in USA. Here are Stefan Pierer’s thoughts on a wide variety of subjects.

ON SURVIVING THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
“You cannot sit there and wait; it doesn’t get better that way. In very tough circumstances you can get the best market shares. One of the big success stories of KTM was that we were the fastest moving, most aggressive and most ambitious motorcycle company through the economic crisis and now we are harvesting that success. The Japanese were sitting and waiting. Honda moved a bit, Yamaha was a disaster and Kawasaki did a good job. Suzuki is disappearing from the market.”

ON SUPERCROSS, DECOSTER AND AMERICA
“For many years I was not convinced that a huge investment in American racing would pay back, but after the economic crisis we were influenced by our American staff to invest. Pit Beirer was able to persuade Roger DeCoster to come to KTM and we decided to take Supercross seriously. I have to say I am positively surprised by the payback—incredible! Supercross is the showcase in the States and that was a learning curve for me.

“I was worried about too much money in that segment if it didn’t work out, but with KTM’s professional set-up and DeCoster as the team manager, the success is coming. We have good riders and the United States market is one of our growing areas. Last year we were up 20 percent and this year we are up 15 percent even though market is flat. I think that growth is down to Supercross success.”

ON HUSKY’S REPUTATION“Husqvarna was the benchmark at the beginning of the sport. It was a competitor that kept getting better year-by-year. In the mid 1990s we took over Husaberg, which was a spin-off from the former Husqvarna engineers when they left the company when moved down to Castiglioni and Cagiva. We got some experience from them and in 2003 we closed down the facility in Sweden and brought the operation down to Austria. It worked out very well. We were very impressed.

Maybe Husaberg was partly the killer of Husqvarna because last year Husaberg sold 6000 units, more than Husqvarna for offroad.

Our experience with Husaberg as a second brand that overlapped our main brand was useful and so was adapting the platform strategy from the car industry. In other words, sharing engine and chassis components as much as possible between brands. With platform sharing you don’t need additional R&D, purchasing and production. After ten years with Husaberg I was 100 percent sure that we could handle a second brand and then the possibility came up to buy Husqvarna.

ON HUSABERG’S LIMITATIONS
“Husaberg had one weakness. In Europe it is a solid brand and it is strong, but outside of the European continent nobody really knows it. In the United States it is unknown—but that is not true for Husqvarna. Husqvarna brought the sport to America and is considered to be one of the pioneers of motocross. It has a long history in the United States and the brand is recognized everywhere around the globe. It is the second oldest motorcycle brand.

“When the situation came up at BMW where they recognized that they needed to focus on road bikes during the economic crisis, they wanted to get rid of their offroad bikes. We had a clear plan to create a single brand with Husaberg being merged and Husqvarna being the strong global brand for the future.”

ON THE 2015 HUSQVARNAS“With the platform, we will redo some things on the Husaberg models to convert them to Husqvarnas, mainly with the colors, graphics and technical improvements. For motocross we will use the KTM platform and...we will have a very strong competition line for every displacement in motocross, meaning 250, 350 and 450 four-strokes and 125 and 250 two-strokes, plus all the models that Husaberg had for enduro. This will include a 690cc single-cylinder bike. It will be perfect model line, so Husqvarna dealers can survive in the offroad segment. That gives us the chance to have a second distribution line against the Japanese. Husqvarna is strong enough on a global basis to be able to attack the Japanese or to lift the Europeans up against the Japanese; that is the concept.”

ON HUSKY VERSUS KTM
“You have to have the brand content separate from KTM. KTM is perhaps a bit more ‘to the edge’ and more race-orientated. Husqvarna will come out as more historic, more Scandinavian and a little bit smoother. The design, as you will see in the future, will be a bit softer than the KTMs. Husqvarna will focus on the Supermoto style of bike for on-road. There are a lot of niches that Husqvarna can occupy and become a serious player again.”

ON WHY KTM CAN SUCCEED WHERE BMW FAILED“First, we have 20 years experience in the offroad niche market. It is a very specific market and you need experienced people: former racers and skilled technicians. Every small detail must be pursued with hard and consistent work to create the right product.

“Second, the offroad community is a closed community and if you are not part of it then you are making a mistake.

“Third, Italy, as an industrial base, is one of the most difficult, aside from France, because of the labor regulations. Italy is not competitive any more. First of all you need to pay a lot of money to have a nice Italian company and brand. Then, you need to pay a lot of money to get rid of that company. That was the background situation when I came to meet with BMW.

“They asked if I was interested in Husqvarna because they wanted to focus on road bikes. I said ‘why not? Let’s sit together’. It was as simple as that. It sounds easy and it was easy. We are very excited now, especially when we think about the new model program. For KTM’s factory in Mattighofen, Austria, it means 15,000 additional bikes based on the same platforms. It is like the car industry with Volkswagen and Seat, Audi and Skoda. In the market place the brands are separate, but behind the scenes there are synergies. That is the only way to survive on a small scale and in a competitive industry.”

ON WHY KTM DOESN’T HAVE ITS OWN MOTOCROSS TEST TRACK
“It would be nice! A motocross and enduro course for zero emission bikes is already at the factory, but we have tried for the past 20 years to build a motocross test track. It has been impossible and it is unbelievable how many arguments from neighbors have come up. It is a sad thing because because we are employing almost 3000 people in the region. Many people are benefitting from KTM, but we are not able to do a test track. We even have 50 acres of land set aside for it. The E-bike track was immediate, but a normal track is much harder. For us it means a bottleneck for our R&D department because means extended sessions in Italy or Spain.”

 

[john01]

I just wish they would have asked him how the "new Husky" was going to compete against the Jap bikes like he first said they would??? IMHO it isn't going to happen with the new Huskaberg being the new premium brand KTM.

 

[ray_ray]

ON SUPERCROSS, DECOSTER AND AMERICA

“For many years I was not convinced that a huge investment in American racing would pay back, but after the economic crisis we were influenced by our American staff to invest. Pit Beirer was able to persuade Roger DeCoster to come to KTM and we decided to take Supercross seriously. I have to say I am positively surprised by the payback—incredible! Supercross is the showcase in the States and that was a learning curve for me.
“I was worried about too much money in that segment if it didn’t work out, but with KTM’s professional set-up and DeCoster as the team manager, the success is coming. We have good riders and the United States market is one of our growing areas. Last year we were up 20 percent and this year we are up 15 percent even though market is flat. I think that growth is down to Supercross success.”

This is what racing (advertising really) a bike (really any product) does. It's a live performance of your product. You have to race and compete or you have no cred. Without a live performance, you are Milli Vanilli.

I just wish they would have asked him how the "new Husky" was going to compete against the Jap bikes like he first said they would??? IMHO it isn't going to happen with the new Huskaberg being the new premium brand KTM.

This guy has alot of work to do and looking at the past performance of his success, I'd think it is not wise to bet against him.
He's already kicked the japan bikes into the back seat and out the car on the dirt bike arena. Read'em and weep.

 

[john01]

I wouldn't bet against him or take his word as the truth either, Options are great, just hate to see them shrink. LOL I won't cry.

 

[organ donor]

That man Pierer talks too much

 

[Bart]

The way I see it he's just being arrogant, saying the the Italian Huskys were old school and didn't innovate.
Well that holds true for the 250/300 2t I'm not disagreeing with that, but the x-lite platform (frame) is very good (although a bit to heavy), the x-lite engines are the lightest of it's kind (although not powerful enough), the 449/511 platform has great features (linkage above swingarm, CTS to name just a few).

I have never been a fan of KTM, but I think we can all say from 2011 and on they have a decent product (good engines, acceptable frames and link). They are quite lightweight but are engineered wrong (made to light since we've seen dozens of broken frames).
I think the platform strategy is a good idea for the automobile industry, since the end product differs in many ways, I however think it's not a very wise move in the dirt bike business.
There just aren't enough difference to be made, if the frame and engine is the same then the product will always be a rebadge and just another version not another bike.
If the new Husqvarna will be different enough from a KTM then make new frame based on the x-light frame use a KTM engine, KTM swingarm (or modified with linkage above) and small KTM bit's with premium suspension.

People will still buy the new Husqvarna I'm sure of that and it could be successful again, the people who will buy it won't be the same that previously had Husky's (they'll be looking towards new European brands IMHO). We'll see what the future brings, they won't have me as a customer (I've switched to TM Racing). Beta, Sherco, and GasGas have great bikes and should be looked at as an alternative for the Italian Huskys.

 

[silverpilen]

Interesting insight from SP. As Winston Churchill said, "history will be kind to me as I intend to write it". There's no point in dredging through the inaccuracies of the interview and good luck to them for working hard and doing very well in the last five years, however you can probably draw a chart that would plot the rise of Ktm neatly against the decline in interest and investment/development of the Japanese factories in the off-road market.

 

[K5PL5]

They'll get the great magazine reviews.

They already do. Testers love the KTMs.

 

[K5PL5]

There´s a long tradition of BMW eliminating competition here in Germany. After re-unification, BMW got rid of the very popular East German manufacturer MZ. Once a company has achieved a certain size, innovation becomes less important than attaining a monopoly position. It´s only small companies that innovate. BMW and KTM have left us without a street legal super moto. Just hope that some of the smaller companies jump in and fill the gap.

Funny enough, I bought my first motorcycle in 1997 at a BMW/MZ dealer. I stood on the old wooden floor of the shop looking at an MZ Skorpion on one side and a BMW F650ST on the other. Honestly, I didnt really know what I was looking at. I went for the F650. I dont regret it; it was an awesome bike. Ive been looking on craigslist and ebay for a while now trying to find a Skorpion tho...

 

[mnb]

The way I see it he's just being arrogant, saying the the Italian Huskys were old school and didn't innovate.
Well that holds true for the 250/300 2t I'm not disagreeing with that, but the x-lite platform (frame) is very good (although a bit to heavy), the x-lite engines are the lightest of it's kind (although not powerful enough), the 449/511 platform has great features (linkage above swingarm, CTS to name just a few).

The x-lite won two EWC E2 championships in 3 years. And KTM threw that out with the bathwater.

Arrogant is a vast understatement.

 

[fletchman45]

That old school 250/300 may be just that. But a 300 Husky is a rocketship and a 250 Husky will not let you down and get you thru the nastiest of nasty there is. Yea sure the new color scheme is great! But a tird is a tird is a tird. No I won't ride one unless I all of a sudden get amnesia and forget about a lot of things. Lightweight like a KTM is not always a good thing. There are times I associate lightweight with being cheap and poorly built and a parts eating and non reliable. Hummmmmm sounds like I'm describing a, well you know................

 

[Norman Foley]

That old school 250/300 may be just that. But a 300 Husky is a rocketship and a 250 Husky will not let you down and get you thru the nastiest of nasty there is. Yea sure the new color scheme is great! But a tird is a tird is a tird. No I won't ride one unless I all of a sudden get amnesia and forget about a lot of things. Lightweight like a KTM is not always a good thing. There are times I associate lightweight with being cheap and poorly built and a parts eating and non reliable. Hummmmmm sounds like I'm describing a, well you know................

If nothing else... you're dependable!

 

[ajaxauto]

you all know how well the 2 strokes have held up and worked for me NEVER a DNF since 2006 when I went Husky 2 stroke

 

[robertaccio]

I need to throw this out there Ive never had a dnf on my 4 stroke Huskys starting from 04 TC450....to TE450 to TXC450 to TE310 to TXC310R
well ok, I had one ..basically a DNS...well ok I got started but stopped after about a 1/2 mile om my 2013 after a clutch bearing failure, but thats it.

 

[john01]

I don't think the next generation Huskabergs will be able to make those same claims. I do hope I'm wrong.

 

[reveille]

I don't think the next generation Huskabergs will be able to make those same claims. I do hope I'm wrong.

I don't think the new management wants the bikes to be that bullet proof since it's counter intuitive to making $ I really hope that is not the case though.

 

[bearorso]

Interesting insight from SP. As Winston Churchill said, "history will be kind to me as I intend to write it". There's no point in dredging through the inaccuracies of the interview and good luck to them for working hard and doing very well in the last five years, however you can probably draw a chart that would plot the rise of Ktm neatly against the decline in interest and investment/development of the Japanese factories in the off-road market.

This, is so very well put.

KTM, have benefitted immensely, from the Japanese manufacturers not attending to / giving up on the Off Road market - though, it's understandable to a certain extent, as, in the West, it really isn't heading anywhere. Oh, and specifically, the Japanese walking away from 2ts - giving KTM, a near monopoly, and relatively 'big', high profit sales from 2 engine platforms that have recieved utterly minimal development. Those profits, have enabled them to develope 8, 4t dirtbike engines alone ( including the monobloc and sloper 'Bergs), not even getting into the road bikes, and the Car that sucked up millions.

KTM need the Bajaj, and now the CFMoto ( I think that's the new Chinese 'partners') to truly become a reasonably sized company. Just over 108,000 motorcycles in 2012, and, I think 120,00 + in 2013, does not make a 'big' company. Just check the sales / production of Hero Motorcycles in India ( and quite a few other manufacturers, in India, China, Thailand , Vietnam, Brasil and on and on - even Nigeria and other Africa countries, now , for bikes such as Honda CG125s - the Nigerian Honda factory, has produced over 100,000 CGs this year, or are projected to) , for an idea of what truly is large scale production.

It is what it is, now. Best to keep on criticizing 'KTHusky', make enough 'noise' so they do 'depart' a bit from just a rebadged KTM.

In the meantime, we've lost "Huskies" ( to the extent of them being a seperate, different brand), but gained Shercos and Betas, both in 4ts, and, more recently 2ts.

 

[Julian]

Are we better off at the moment buying run out 2013 Husabergs as opposed to buying 2014 "new" Husqvarna's and waiting to see what new models come out in 2015?
It will be interesting to see what direction the mating of Husaberg and Husqvarna back together again under the management and funding of KTM? Will there be an unique new brand direction or just one new badge branding of one super KTM product?
Time will tell.

 

[ray_ray]

It is what it is, now. Best to keep on criticizing 'KTHusky', make enough 'noise' so they do 'depart' a bit from just a rebadged KTM.

Yep, this is a little interesting selling 2 differently branded bikes that are the same? He has got a world market to work with here, 1st world speaking. I'm guessing bleed over from the orange side will be evident. And SP has no real reason to change the bikes unless sales numbers are something he's not liking or bleed-over maybe. In the latter case, he has real problems.

These are some shrewd business players here... SP is gonna deliver specifics bikes to specific arenas of people with some brand-name twists to help drive his sales. Its a game the Japanese know maybe, but at best, they dated at it and rusty and dusty currently and they have never seen this attack before. SP gains more market share and no stopping him now.

There's no point in dredging through the inaccuracies of the interview

Right.. Hard to understand him with all the irons he has in the fire and probably does not wanna give competitors too many clues ... But, look at the real-life actions as they unfold and you will get some sort of realism into what he might really doing.

He's gonna have to change fire more then once in the next few yrs after he sees real sale numbers. Margin changes may come also.