It doesn't roll off the tongue as KTM does, but by the end of this piece, you're going to know a little more about the Austrian metal foundry called Vöcklabrucker Metallgießerei GmbH.
For one thing, it's been around for a long time—since 1955, in fact. That means, if you're doing the math, it was due to celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2025. While that doesn't quite have the punch of a 75th anniversary, it's still a long time for a company to be around. Most probably, it would've taken great pride in celebrating the decades of metalwork it had provided to its customers.
But not any longer.
Why? Because on December 13, 2024, the Austrian foundry officially filed for insolvency with local Austrian courts. Vöcklabrucker Metallgießerei GmbH was a wholly-owned subsidiary of KTM Components, which in turn is one of the three KTM subsidiaries that declared insolvency a short time before the foundry did, according to KSV1870 (an Austrian credit protection association).
It wasn't always this way, of course. In fact, KTM Components only took over Vöcklabrucker very recently, on September 1, 2024, according to numerous local Austrian news outlets. About 50 percent of the foundry's orders came from KTM Components, while the remainder came from outside customers.
KTM Components' own insolvency declaration was filed in court on November 29, 2024. Vöcklabrucker filed its own insolvency declaration two weeks later, on December 13, 2024, because it was reportedly due to pay employees on December 15 and it knew that wouldn't be possible.
Two major issues contributed to Vöcklabrucker's insolvency declaration:
- KTM Components and KTM AG's planned production stop, which was intended to start on December 15, 2024 and run through March 3, 2025, and the associated massive sales reduction
- Vöcklabrucker's liquidity was already tapped out, and verbal promises it says it received from KTM AG to provide advance payments were no longer possible due to KTM AG's own insolvency proceedings
Unlike KTM AG, there is currently no plan for Vöcklabrucker to continue, nor to be restructured. That means 134 total additional employees will be caught up in the ripple effects of the KTM Group's subsidiary insolvencies. Vöcklabrucker has recorded debts of around 3.5 million Euros, along with an unclear tally of assets that KSV1870 representative Alexander Meinschad believes will be utilized "in the best way possible" after the company is officially closed in bankruptcy court.
A full examination and creditor's meeting for Vöcklabrucker is planned to take place in Austria, at the Regional Court of Wels, on March 13, 2025.
