KTM now part of the Bajaj group of India

Chris-CJ

Chris-CJ

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Bajaj Auto is acquiring Pierer Industries’ stake in the parent company of KTM, Husqvarna, and Gas Gas, in a deal estimated to be worth €800 million (US$901.8 million) and is expected to be completed by May 2026 pending regulatory approval.
(Bajaj already manufactures the sub-500cc KTM models)
What will this mean for CF Moto?

So now we have KTM added to the roster of RE, BSA, Norton, companies with owners based out of India.
 
Bajaj already owned 49% of KTM so seeing them buy up Pierer's equity isn't surprising to keep KTM afloat (which they wouldn't be if it wasn't for Bajaj's money so far this year). Quicker they get Pierer out of there the better imo.
Would it be better to have your bike built by Bajaj or CF Moto or is it the same difference?
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
Bajaj already owned 49% of KTM so seeing them buy up Pierer's equity isn't surprising to keep KTM afloat (which they wouldn't be if it wasn't for Bajaj's money so far this year). Quicker they get Pierer out of there the better imo.
Would it be better to have your bike built by Bajaj or CF Moto or is it the same difference?
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After owning (for a very short time) a motorcycle built by Bajaj all I can say is it can't get any worse.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
Bajaj already owned 49% of KTM so seeing them buy up Pierer's equity isn't surprising to keep KTM afloat (which they wouldn't be if it wasn't for Bajaj's money so far this year). Quicker they get Pierer out of there the better imo.
Would it be better to have your bike built by Bajaj or CF Moto or is it the same difference?
Click to expand...

Good question, but don't forget some of the diehard, bleed orange purist types might start looking elsewhere before they had their bike made by either.

Look at how many Harley guys started taking up Victory when the MoCo started screwing over long time dealers, and then later switched to Indians when the MoCo started building bikes overseas... Their way of protesting that things ain't what they used to be.

A lot of KTM riders would be really happy with a Super Tenere 1200.... once they learn to accept that reliability is possible.
 
With motorcycle sales declining and fewer people getting into the sport and I call it a sport
because it is no longer transportation even in developing countries the major companies have been thining the herd.
Does the world really need 1000cc+ dual purpose bikes that generally never carry passengers.
As the world goes into economic decline I think people will start to take the attitude of what do I need vs what I want.
 
The first problem is the huge existing inventory. Bajaj can avoid building some models for years and won't run out. Would you rather have a KTM built bike that had been in storage for years or a fresh Bajaj build? Personally, I don't know which one I'd prefer.
 
Surplus inventory is a loose loose senario.
Eather you dump it on the market at 50% off as the Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki did in the 80s
and destroy sales of new product.
Or destroy the product, take the hit and hope to survive to fight another day.
I looked at a previous year new Yamaha but it was only 10% less than a current year model.
It made no sence to buy it because of the fact it would depreciate as a 2 year old motorcycle the minute I took possession.
If it was financed the motorcyle would immediately go into upside down liability especially with 0% down.
And that is a suckers bet at the best of times.
 
guzzirider said:
Surplus inventory is a loose loose senario.
Eather you dump it on the market at 50% off as the Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki did in the 80s
and destroy sales of new product.
Or destroy the product, take the hit and hope to survive to fight another day.
I looked at a previous year new Yamaha but it was only 10% less than a current year model.
It made no sence to buy it because of the fact it would depreciate as a 2 year old motorcycle the minute I took possession.
If it was financed the motorcyle would immediately go into upside down liability especially with 0% down.
And that is a suckers bet at the best of times.
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There is a possible third option although I am not sure of the viability. Revin/reframe them as 2026 bikes. Obviously this has major problems with Euro emission regs but may work in ROW. It costs something to do the work but maybe less than the hits the other paths entail. Would the 2026 bikes be pariahs or would people be happy with this path?
 
The problem is you spend money revamping a product there is no demand for.
Plus you have obsolete product with no new production, and lets face, it it is a bells & whistles world out there in consumer land.
 
Could sell them to the Russians for suicide missions.
 
Shaman said:
Hey, I can get parts. That's all I care about, otherwise love my KTM.
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I would rather have a brand I don't NEED to get parts for.
 
I’ll bet Bajaj skinnies things down. Refocus on smaller bikes for the masses, kill racing, and dump athe Mx stuff to other companies, keeping a minority stake.
 
guzzirider said:
I would rather have a brand I don't NEED to get parts for.
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EVERYTHING eventually needs parts.

That said, I'm certain that parts for my KTM 1090 will not have the longtime availability that my Norton 850 or my BMW R100RS enjoy. It's not a KTM thing though, it's a modern approach to machinery. I recently read that John Deere has discontinued parts production for quite a number of their older tractor models to encourage people to go buy a newer one.
 
Mad Mike said:
I’ll bet Bajaj skinnies things down. Refocus on smaller bikes for the masses, kill racing, and dump athe Mx stuff to other companies, keeping a minority stake.
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I disagree. They'll certainly keep the small displacement street stuff they already build as that's their bread and butter, but the off road stuff is still a big deal and the reason the marque exists.

I expect they'll keep the off road and 690 stuff being built in Austria. They'll rationalize the branding, perhaps killing Husqvarna outright, and reducing GasGas to their roots as a trials bike manufacturer, then perhaps spinning it off. The question is the 890/901 series and the LC* V-twins.

They've come a long way with the V's since the 950's in terms of performance and reliability, and I saw a lot of them over the last 2 weeks in Holland. Nothing compared to the R12/13GS numbers where it seemed every second bike was a GS, but still quite a few of the LC8's. The whole cam issue with the parallel twin, and the existence of the CFMOTO version has muddied the waters a bit with lots of people believing that all the parallel twins are built in China.

I also don't short change the notion of corporate pride. Bajaj is obviously a HUGE and successful business. They want to be seen as comparable to the Japanese and Euros in the marketplace so they may not drop all the racing stuff, nor be eager to exit the premium end of the market, on or off road.

The first thing to do though is to tie a stone to the leg of Pierer and toss him over the side of the boat.
 
Yamaha has put some parts from the 70s back into production because there is a profitable demand.
My car is 13 years old and GM is no longer required to have parts for it but
just about everything I may need have been available as aftermarket at a lower price.
 
xrljoel said:
I disagree. They'll certainly keep the small displacement street stuff they already build as that's their bread and butter, but the off road stuff is still a big deal and the reason the marque exists.

I expect they'll keep the off road and 690 stuff being built in Austria. They'll rationalize the branding, perhaps killing Husqvarna outright, and reducing GasGas to their roots as a trials bike manufacturer, then perhaps spinning it off. The question is the 890/901 series and the LC* V-twins.

They've come a long way with the V's since the 950's in terms of performance and reliability, and I saw a lot of them over the last 2 weeks in Holland. Nothing compared to the R12/13GS numbers where it seemed every second bike was a GS, but still quite a few of the LC8's. The whole cam issue with the parallel twin, and the existence of the CFMOTO version has muddied the waters a bit with lots of people believing that all the parallel twins are built in China.

I also don't short change the notion of corporate pride. Bajaj is obviously a HUGE and successful business. They want to be seen as comparable to the Japanese and Euros in the marketplace so they may not drop all the racing stuff, nor be eager to exit the premium end of the market, on or off road.

The first thing to do though is to tie a stone to the leg of Pierer and toss him over the side of the boat.
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Did you stop and ask those GS owners if they paid full retail?
Are the shops taking the hit and dumping inventory to get rid of the interest costs.
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