Is KTM in financial trouble?

[Supermofo]

MV bought by Art of Mobility S.A.
https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/mv ... -from-ktm/

Thanks to KTM's over-production policy, they too have a warehouse full of unsold bikes - I seem to remember more than 2000. They've just had to pre-reg some of them because they are pre-Euro 5+.

I would hazard a guess that Sardarov is laughing all the way to a bank. He almost certainly sold his shares for top dollar and bought them back for peanuts in the KTM fire sale.

There are some cracking pre-reg bike deals at the moment. Buyers market for sure.

[Bigjawa]

Art of Mobility? Sounds like a supplier of disability aids.

Trevor Horn getting on a bit?

[Pirahna]

Apparently there's a rumour BMW are intested in buying KTM

https://www.rideapart.com/news/751628/b ... torcycles/

[Supermofo]

Apparently there's a rumour BMW are intested in buying KTM

https://www.rideapart.com/news/751628/b ... torcycles/

Just when you thought KTM couldn't get any more unreliable

[mangocrazy]

A BMW takeover would eviscerate the local economy; there'd be nothing left in Mattighofen. It sounds like 3 parts asset stripping, one part easy access to MotoGP grid slots.

[Bustaspoke]

Todays news from the court https://www.advrider.com/ktm-ag-gets-a-lifeline/
KTM have until May 23rd to pay 548 million Euro's & that pays the creditors 30% of the debt.
The production line will reopen mid March & full capacity utilisation of the 4 production lines in a single shift operation is to be achieved within 3 months.
Re opening the plant to full capacity seems optimistic to me with all the current unsold stock but hopefully they'll stay in business..

[The Spin Doctor]

Todays news from the court https://www.advrider.com/ktm-ag-gets-a-lifeline/
KTM have until May 23rd to pay 548 million Euro's & that pays the creditors 30% of the debt.
The production line will reopen mid March & full capacity utilisation of the 4 production lines in a single shift operation is to be achieved within 3 months.
Re opening the plant to full capacity seems optimistic to me with all the current unsold stock but hopefully they'll stay in business..

I also read that the vast bulk of the €900m KTM claimed had been invested has only been 'pledged' which means they still don't have the cash in the bank.

Trading in shares was also suspended after their value climbed 18% after the ruling.

[A_morti]

[mangocrazy]

The longer this continues, the more I think that KTM is toast. There's vast amounts of unsold inventory in dealer showrooms, no 2025 bikes being built yet (will there ever be?), and KTM's reputation sinks lower and lower with every passing day. And the squillion €uros of debt is quietly sitting gathering interest. I see a cross-border raid from Munich, stripping assets and quietly nullifying the major competitor in the ADV space. And snapping up a MotoGP Team and grid slots on the cheap.

[Jody]

Yesterday KTM emailed me to offer me a chance to join thier "club".

I didn't read it all, but I guess there's a fee to join the club?

[The Spin Doctor]

Years ago when I was running a small courier outfit in London I got stung by a client. I got a letter one Monday morning from the receiver telling me to put in my claim but warning me there probably wasn't any dividend on the few £'00 they owed me. Half an hour later, I got a call to book a pick up. I mentioned the 'in receivership' letter. "Oh yes, that's the old company. We just started another one... now, can we book that bike?"

They were a bit surprised when I said 'cash only' but agreed to that. I didn't mention the job was also going to cost them twice as much. After about 7-8 week, they finally twigged I was now charging them more than the going rate, and switched to another outfit. By then I'd recouped most of what they owed me.

I rather suspect that KTM's suppliers who've been stiffed for 70% of what they owed may well try similar tactics.

The crucial bit is that they need to find €548 million to transfer to the insolvency administrator by May 23 to meet the 30% payout. It's also reported that a direct injection of cash reported to be between €100 and 150m is necessary to restart production lines next month. Beyond that, further amounts will be needed to cover separate insolvencies at other Pierer Mobility subsidiaries.

it was widely reported - including by me on my Elevenses webcast - that KTM had secured funding of €900 million which would have been sufficient to meet those costs.

But now a financial news outlet has referred to this as a 'pledge', which implies it's far from being guaranteed cash in the bank. That's probably why the latest reports say Citigroup Inc. is leading the fundraising effort. Pretty obviously, if they cannot raise this cash, the company collapses.

A potential investor already mentioned is Austrian entrepreneur Stephan Zoechling, who has been appointed to Pierer Mobility’s supervisory board. He has a track record of betting on special situations, including the buyout of exhaust-pipe maker Remus, and purchasing the European assets of sanctioned Russian lender Sberbank.

So what's keeping KTM operating during the production shutdown? As far as I can work out - and it's a very tangled web - Bajaj Auto has already put forward €50 million to cover KTM's immediate operating costs.

Bajaj through their Netherlands subsidiary own 49% of KTM AG - in fact, this Netherlands based Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV owns 49% of Pierer Bajaj AG, which in turn owns 75 percent of KTM’s parent company, Pierer Mobility AG. A few days back €150k was moved to that Dutch company from the Indian parent, and it's being said this sum will be invested into Pierer / KTM to keep it functioning in the immediate future. It is unclear at the moment if Bajaj will become the majority stakeholder after the investment and how the companies will operate in future.

So, KTM aren't 'back' as one motorcycle news outlet reported Tuesday evening. As Winston Churchill said eight decades ago, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”.

[MrLongbeard]

Even KTM branded kit is being discounted heavily, 40% off isn't peanuts even if it was overpriced to begin

https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorc ... 8H4.SK2Xaf

[The Spin Doctor]

Stephan Pierer has resigned as join CEO of KTM - he remains joint CEO of Pierer Mobility. I only just found that out on Friday, and it happened on March 5.

[Pirahna]

KTM cannot pay back the €600m it's supposed to on May 23rd and have stopped production because they can't get parts. They've also stopped distribution of CF Moto.

https://m.gpone.com/en/2025/04/23/motog ... inues.html

https://www.rideapart.com/news/757658/k ... 2025-july/

[Supermofo]

It does sound very bad. Can't pay debt, can't make bikes, got stacks of old bikes unsold. Very sad situation as a KTM fan.

[Skub]

Looks like the death throes for the company as it stands.

[ChrisW]

Surely at some point the prices of the un-sold stock of bikes has to utterly collapse?

I'm not being greedy saying that, I'd not be buying one.

[Yorick]

Surely at some point the prices of the un-sold stock of bikes has to utterly collapse?

I'm not being greedy saying that, I'd not be buying one.

Apparently they don't meet Euro cat whatever.
But there has to be a market somewhere?

[Scootabout]

Fire sale. Could be a bargain for those in a jurisdiction where they're allowed to be sold, and who are willing to accept no warranty.

[Pirahna]

Surely at some point the prices of the un-sold stock of bikes has to utterly collapse?

I'm not being greedy saying that, I'd not be buying one.

Apparently they don't meet Euro cat whatever.
But there has to be a market somewhere?

The new regs are Euro 5+. A Google found this:

All new models launched in 2024 had to be Euro 5+ compliant but from 1 January it will apply to all new bikes sold. Dealers have until the end of 2025 to sell any 2024 Euro 5 models in stock.

Euro 5 has been around since 2020 so every unsold bike intended for the European market should be legal to sell up to the end of the year.