Honestly, I would've thought Stefan Pierer, KTM's CEO and then Co-CEO, would've been ousted months ago. The turmoil behind the scenes all-but ensured he'd leave. I mean, there's the brand's insolvency, it leaving numerous motorsports championships, the countless layoffs, the closing of businesses he acquired, the constant bullshit PR spin about how everything is actually fine, and the selling off of MV Agusta after less than a year.
And there were other terrible decisions too numerous to count.
But no. He's only stepping down now after the company was given a lifeline to, hopefully, stay intact. I say hopefully, as it's still unknown whether or not it will, indeed, stay afloat. There are some steep obstacles it still needs to cross, including acquiring more funding, paying off debtors, and figuring out what the hell its strategy will be going forward.
Yet, in the face of all his poor decision-making—and there's a lot of blame that can be rested at his feet, including by those tasked at figuring out how to restructure the company—it took what feels like a year for the executive to hand over the keys to the kingdom. He now passes the baton to Gottfried Neumeister, his own second in command which is suspect to say the least. But more on that in a second.
Pierer, however, won't be out completely as Pierer AG, KTM's parent company, remains. And Stefan Pierer remains a member of the board of that company that holds his name. Yeah, how could any of this go poorly?
According to a very brief press release, Pierer will step down as co-CEO, giving the reins of KTM AG to Neumeister who assumed the position about a month ago. The two executives were the only two members of the original board to survive a culling last year. The release states, "Stefan Pierer is today resigning from the Executive Board of KTM AG. Stefan Pierer has accompanied Gottfried Neumeister as Co-CEO until the approval of the reorganization plan by the creditors of KTM AG and is now handing over the management of KTM AG completely to him."
Further, because of how the company's org structure is, and who owns what, Pierer Mobility AG remains KTM's parent company. How this isn't a conflict of interest given the history of Stefan within KTM, I don't know. But in the statement provided, Stefan Pierer remains on that company's board in no uncertain terms, stating, "Stefan Pierer remains Co-CEO of the listed company Pierer Mobility AG."
But all of this is extremely sus.
There is, obviously, the conflict of interest I mention above. Pierer was the CEO of KTM and remains co-CEO of Pierer AG which owns KTM AG. How he's still not technically the CEO, or how he'll not influence the company in tangible ways, remains to be seen. Further, that Pierer was allowed to install Neumeister first as co-CEO and then CEO—I'm still lost as to what those titles actually mean—after dissolving the board is fishy as hell. Pierer essentially gave himself the power to appoint his successor even after running the company into insolvency.
The final line of the statement, however, is quite funny.
"In more than 33 years, Stefan Pierer has turned KTM into a global brand and built it into Europe's largest motorcycle manufacturer. The company would like to thank Stefan Pierer for his many years of successful work for KTM." In part, that's true. KTM is a global player. It's known the world over and builds some seriously great motorcycles. At least when they work. But to end on a note talking about Stefan Pierer's accomplishments with the brand in the midst of all of this (waves hands at KTM's woes) is beyond parody. He wouldn't be out if things were going well or "successful" as the statement puts it.
Optimistically, and if I look the other way of how Neumeister got his job, this might be what KTM needs to survive. New blood to revamp the company and start building out a strategy for today's customers—cough, cough small displacement, inexpensive motorcycles. But only time will tell.
It'll also tell if Neumeister is really in control or if Pierer remains KTM's puppet master...
