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Edited Date/Time
2/1/2013 4:12pm
KTM buying Husky ?
High-placed motorcycle industry sources have tipped MCN off that BMW is negotiating the sale of Husqvarna to Austrian firm KTM with an announcement expected as early as the end of this week to officially confirm it.
German giant BMW bought Husqvarna from MV Agusta in 2008; just as the world entered a financial crisis but has ploughed huge sums of money into the firm which is based in northern Italy with new road bikes like the Nuda 900 and a complete reworking of the off-road range too.
BMW has not just revamped the range of road and off-road bikes but it has completely renovated the production lines, built a brand new racing and research and development arm along with transferring lots of BMW staff from Munich to Italy to work on the brand.
Now it appears BMW is in the final process of selling Husqvarna to KTM; itself owned by the massive Indian firm Bajaj. One source who didn’t want to be named said: “I do not know if this is a signed deal yet but I understand the final parts of the negotiations are happening now.”
The rumours have reached MCN from multiple sources with some even claiming the deal is going to be announced later this week. Sources in Austria, Germany and Italy are all in broad agreement this is happening.
BMW traditionally refuses to comment on speculation of any kind and this is the same in this case with no response to questions. Husqvarna and KTM are also saying nothing at this stage.
MCN will update this story as soon as there is anything to add.
KTM must lose tons of dough on their street bikes and street bike racing programs.
I'm a KTM owner and fan, but they turned unique Husabergs into blue KTM's. Now Husky's will be red KTM's, or discontinued.
KTM deserves success, but it used to be cool to have a unique bike. Maybe I'll get a Honda..
The Shop
I hope KTM continues it success, which will force the Jap's to up their game!
http://www.bajajauto.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajaj_Auto
-wiki
That doesnt really exist. They hire independent tech firms to design stuff for them. The new Husky four strokes and direct injection two strokes that were in development were being designed by the same firm that did the last incarnation of the SX-F's. So while the tech may be proprietary, its not like they needed to buy Husky to gain any tech advantage, its more of a marketshare thing.
This may be a good thing. KTM will bring stability to the market hopefully. By owning three of the top brands and fielding teams, it may make for calmer waters. Companies like TM, Sherco, and GasGas have to be worried at this point.
I sure hope they dont plan on doing anything drastic like shutting the Husky factory down or moving it. That would be devastating for a lot of really good friends of mine.
The fact of the matter is this... BMW has issues with communication. At the corporate level whether it be in cars or bikes or whatever, for all the things the Germans can do right that company just doesnt have a very good chain of communication. That is problem number one.
Second, was the fact that no matter how many new managers they moved from Munich to Varese, there was always going to be a MAJOR cultural gap between German management and the Italian workforce at that company. It's like oil and vinegar (pun intended).
Problem three was the Italians themselves. I wont go into detail but lets just say that you cant expect to be on the ball when youre taking 15 espresso breaks a day while working on the assembly line.
Being that KTM is a bike company, they may be able to finally coral the Italians and get some productivity out of them. Or maybe not. Hopefully KTM can get that Husky Nuda 900 over here in the states. Its a really nice bike. It would sell great here.
I knew something was in the works when I personally saw the entire R&D was put to a halt last year as well as production. They also aborted a lot of projects that were in the works including a all-new 4 stroke line and the DI 2strokes with the before mentioned design firm. It looked as if BMW was planning on just shutting the entire company down. Im encouraged to hear that wont be the case and that theyve found a quality suitor to take ownership. Handing that company back to the MV Agusta group would have been tragic.
Hopefully once the deal is done, those projects can get fired back up. I heard nothing but GREAT things about the new 4 strokes and both times I saw/heard the DI 2 stroke I was super stoked for the potential of the brand.
How it plays out, I will know in a few days. Not even people on the inside are in-the-know of what will go down. All I know is that this deal is 100% happening and that quite a few people are seriously worried about their futures. And that is saying something considering the fact that this sort of instability is not uncommon to the people at Husky. When I mentioned my concerns about 6 months ago, friends of mine shrugged it off as business as usual. About 2 months ago I heard from them and they were VERY concerned. Fast forward to today and you can imagine what anyone involved with Husky is going thru.
No, they sell out every year they don't make enough to meet demand.
Pit Row
They are into streetbikes and doing good because they put some awesome bone-stock bikes on the road. All of their bikes are just the most fun on the street anyone can have. Not the most comfortable comuters for the average joe tho, bet they are not designed that way afterall. They like to be riddin' hard, all the time.
Everyone praises the KTM CrMo frames and u want them to go Aluminium? :/
It looks like KTM's President and primary shareholder Stefan Pierer may have cashed out and sold his 51% shares to India (Bajaj), took his money and bought Husqvarna with it.
Stefan Pierer also owns Kiska, WP, Pankl, among others.
This is going to be interesting!
I wonder how much this changes the face of both companies.
The more I've thought about it, the more I think of what a shame the BMW relationship was. They dumped so much money into Husky and fixed a lot of things, but still, they are pulling out long before they ever initially intended and will never see the fruits of their investment. They expected a very unrealistic turnaround time.
If the KTM owner really has sold his shares and is buying Husky, that would mean the brand should live on. But it definitely doesn't bode we'll for the current employees and factory locale. I'd expect a total overhaul and possible move. That's just speculation based on nystyas post.
I will know the full details in the coming days.
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