Pierer Mobility, the parent company of KTM, has issued a statement outlining its sales decline in 2024, expecting the rest of the year to have a similar trend in the European and American markets. The company has said that sales have slowed significantly and expects a 10 to 15% drop in sales volume compared to last year.
The company has also announced job cuts, stating that “With the growth in sales figures over the last ten years, the number of employees at the motorbike subsidiary KTM AG has more than doubled. In view of the changed location and market situation, the number of employees has now had to be adjusted. This reduction in personnel after years of rising employment is painful, but necessary in order to maintain and secure the competitiveness of the production site.”
In order to tackle the tight situation, KTM will focus on its other two manufacturing locations, India and China. In India, KTM will use its relationship with Bajaj, while in China, the company will rely on CFMoto. These two regions can see making more KTM models to save on costs for the company.
The company statement further adds, “Due to the increasingly fragile supplier industry in Europe, the Pierer Mobility Group is utilising the favourable economic conditions in these regions (India and China) to secure its competitiveness. An efficient and high-quality supplier industry is being established there.”
For the company, dealerships in the US and Europe have been facing difficulties in selling motorcycles, for which KTM will offer longer repayment schemes for its dealers and offer larger discounts, both of which will hurt the company’s profits.
Pierer Mobility owns not just KTM, but also Husqvarna, GasGas, WP Suspension, and MV Agusta, which was the latest addition to the group. KTM, by moving its production away from Europe, could find the rest of the year to balance its books, or even see a profit.
