KTM has been in some seriously hot water, as we've talked extensively about the Austrian brand’s situation time and time again, and have been covering the story as it unfolds. If you want an in-depth look of what’s been going on, click here. But in a nutshell, the once-mighty Austrian brand, known for its aggressive global expansion and racing prowess, is now drowning in debt, stuck with warehouses full of unsold bikes, and scrambling to stay afloat.
With about €2.9 billion owed to creditors, stakeholders, employees, and many others, as well as a year’s worth of motorcycles sitting in dealerships, it’s no surprise that KTM has had to make some very difficult decisions—one of them being the sale of its majority stake in boutique Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta.
Just two years ago, KTM swooped in to supposedly save MV Agusta, and potentially bring it to the mainstream. KTM first acquired a 25.1% share in 2022 before bumping it up to 50.1% in 2024, ultimately giving it a controlling stake in the brand. The plan? Use KTM’s resources and technological know-how to bring some financial stability to the Italian brand, all while adding a touch of exotic flair to its own portfolio, which at the time, looked like it would do nothing but grow.
Indeed, it made sense—MV Agusta had always been known for its breathtakingly beautiful bikes, an elegant feather in KTM’s cap. But now, that partnership is over. KTM has pretty much returned MV Agusta back to its sender, and the brand is back in the hands of Timur Sardarov, the guy who ran the company before the Austrians got involved.
So, where did it all go wrong?
For starters, KTM clearly overestimated its own position. The company had been on a massive growth spurt for years, striking gold with its Bajaj partnership in India, which helped get smaller KTMs into the hands of everyday riders all over the world. Meanwhile, teaming up with China’s CFMoto made its mid-range bikes like the 790 Duke and Adventure more affordable. And, of course, KTM made its name in racing, winning just about everything from motocross to Dakar and even starting to shake things up in MotoGP.
But behind all the success, some serious cracks were forming. KTM dove head-first into its “Ready to Race” mantra, pumping out bikes faster than the market could absorb. And even when demand clearly slowed down, KTM’s production just kept going, flooding dealerships with inventory that just wouldn’t move. And as of December 2024, KTM has around 265,000 bikes just sitting there unsold and waiting for their forever homes.
By the end of last year, things were so bad that KTM had to enter self-administration—Austria’s version of insolvency protection—to figure out a way forward.
That obviously meant trimming the fat, and MV Agusta was something that just had to be let go. Sure, the Italian brand had prestige, but it was never going to be a quick money-maker. It was never intended to be, in the first place.
Just to keep the lights on, KTM needed to focus on its core business—KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas—and unfortunately, MV Agusta was just another distraction. So, they offloaded it to Sardarov’s Art of Mobility S.A., effectively hitting the reset button on the Italian brand.
But was it the right call? There’s a good chance that it was. MV Agusta has always been a niche brand, more about passion than mass-market success. KTM, on the other hand, needs to get its shit together, move its massive backlog of bikes, and pull itself out of financial hell. Selling MV Agusta will certainly not fix everything, but it’s one less problem to deal with.
Now, the real question is: can KTM bounce back, or is this just the beginning of a much bigger collapse? Only time will tell, but for now, MV Agusta is back where it started, and KTM is in survival mode. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you to decide.
Source: Pierer Mobility
