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if you line all three up, they are all KTM's, but GasGas is the "budget" line, KTM is the "race" line, and Husky is the "boutique" line.
for ktm, it allows them to cover a more of the market and pull in guys who dont like orange.
As for the original question to me it would make more sense for them to consolidate into a marquee brand and an economy brand
I've said it in another thread, but what I find strange is that they haven't yet considered resurrecting Husaberg (assuming they still own it).
I'd say Gasgas' success as a brand in terms of sales etc are a good indicator that perhaps, as some have said "yellow KTM's" could be another point in the market for the KTM group.
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As a guy who just bought a brand new GasGas 450 (first ever brand new bike in 26 years of riding MX), to replace my 2016 Husky 350, you're just wrong.
I loved my Husky 350, engine size was great (and unique in the market), ergonomics were great, you could see the better engineering and quality in the machine itself, and changing air filters was a snap compared to my previous japanese bikes (and this is not a hard thing for the japs to adapt to, evidenced by Kawasaki now doing it)
I wanted all that again in my new bike, but I don't have KTM money. Did I need a fancy map switch and traction control ? No. Do I care about billet clamps ? No. Black rims ? cant see them when i'm riding. But i get a KTM engine, KTM frame, KTM suspension, KTM light weight, without the bells and whistles that the next guy is going to want (and happy to spend extra on). They now have two sections of the market (not to mention Husky too), with the development costs of one.
Aside from the above, the actual news of KTM buying Husqvarna, and then buying Gasgas, created content for the various motocross media people around the world - creating a whole bunch of free publicity, and online marketing real-estate, for the KTM group that didn't cost them extra.
Buying multiple brands also adds credence to the argument that KTM cares more about the MX market than Honda/Kawasaki/Suzuki/Yamaha. Is the Suzuki a good enough bike for me? Sure. Am I going to buy one ? No, and part of that reason is that I can see Suzuki doesn't care much for this market, indicated clearly by the R&D (or lack thereof) that Suzuki is spending on MX.
Don't forget the racing angle too, more brands (each with a factory team), the more riders. You'll never see a 9 man KTM squad, but you can see 3 riders on each of the 3 teams.
Your kid loves Mookie, or Barcia ? Then he/she wants a Husky or Gasgas to look like them, then grows up on the brand.
Sometimes it’s smarter (faster, cheaper, & easier) to just buy the competitive brands and make them a subsidiary then it is to “squash” them. I think it makes a lot of sense in the fact that they exponentially increased their manufacturing capability, technology, labor force, and global supply chain with the purchase of Husqvarna and GasGas, which also sent a strong signal to Japanese OEMs that they were willing to restructure their operating model to fain market share.
One thing to keep in mind was the GasGas merger was not clean. The GasGas employees despised KTM and made it very clear when they were bought out that nothing less than a hostile takeover was going to be required to switch them over.
LOL.....what stupid rational . Stupid and invalid
Why do some people have to be like this?
Personal attacks add nothing to the forum.
to me that is good for the sport !!
Also
Them GASGAS bike just look so good !!
I don't think KTM will be selling Suzukis anytime soon. That may not be because KTM has no interest in it, but Suzuki as a company isn't going anywhere so their name will not be for sale like Gasgas and Husky were.
Pit Row
That guy deserved that comment. Notice he hasn’t come back to defend his wildly speculative viewpoint
All DonM said was that he thinks he's a troll, not that he is a troll.
There's a difference.
Yup, your first paragraph is spot on. Easy 'diversification', with really, buggerall to No major changes, and through that, reaching buyers who may well never want an 'Orange bike'. Made on the same production lines / same factory (ies), with regards to the Austrian facilities, well other than the Gas Gas Trials bikes , which still remain in production in Spain. They've got several sites away from Austria for full ( eg: Bajaj for the 125 through to 390 4ts, and that produces over 100,00 KTMs and now Husky 401 Svartpilens / Vitpilens) and partial builds, and, a few more factories for CKDs, across the world now. Their 790 and 890 and the 901 KTHusky engines, are made in China.
But, the often mooted "KTM will buy Suzuki" that I see here on this site - not bloody likely. For the reason you put forward, and, that Suzuki sell near on 4 times the number of bikes ( near 1.2 million, in a Top Ten 2021 bike sellers article in ADVrider.com , by Peter 'The Bear' Thoeming, though he snaffled info from Motorrad for the article ) than KTM. That some people think KTM are bigger than Suzuki, well, silly blighters do exist.
Hell, there's a complete F***wit on another site, that styles himself as an important "Insider", that has regularly said that Harley will buy out Hondas Motorcycle division. Honda had sales of 13.8 Million Bikes last year........
And, in the Top Ten, there's a Mexican manufacturer, Italika, that sold over 900,000 bikes in 2021.
There's a dealer in Redding, California, Fator's KTM Husqvarna GasGas Suzuki.
When they added GasGas, and that took a little convincing from KTM N.A. & a few of their friends, anyways...when they added GasGas, they added a line of bikes that competed DIRECTLY with "The Japanese Brands PRICE-WISE".
The MC125 goes right up against the YZ 125.
The MC250F goes right up against the Japanese 250Fs...etc.
Even better than that! Is this...they got...they get...a set of off-road bikes at a better price than KTM & Husky -YET- it's the same basic bike as the KTM-Husky!
(I bought the GG EC300 for quite a bit less than the "white" one...so, I've seen this savings myself!).
They got MORE bikes this way, too. That was very nice when the COVID madness hit and EVERYONE was scrambling for bikes...Fator's got more Minis, more Electrics (Those went out the door surprisingly quick)...more of EVERYTHING. In their neck of the woods, Off-Road 2Ts are very popular...they got PLENTY of them from the GG line when they really, really NEEDED THEM.
They've even sold their Trials bikes surprisingly well for Northern California...where trials isn't real popular...yet.
1. A New Brand for the KTM/Husky dealers that's directly "price competitive" with the Japanese brands.
2. More bikes at a time when they really needed them.
3. Additional parts availability.
4. Another Gear & Accessories opportunity. Hell, I have the new TLD GG gear bag (NICE!) and some of the apparel, myself.
All of these dealerships serve there local communities & many have very loyal customers who will only buy from that dealership. Get a quality product in as many stores & shop windows as you can & sales will rise.
Go ask your local Lincoln Mercury dealer, or your Lexus dealer, or the local Infiniti dealer, or the GMC Guys, or your local Cadillac Dealer?
Those guys may know...
Post a reply to: Why does it make sense for ktm to have so many "brands"?