KTM Through the Years

At the time I’m writing this, most motorcycle enthusiasts know something about the troubles facing KTM. Following a host of rumors that surfaced at the end of 2024, the Austrian company and Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, has officially entered “self-administration.” 

This means legal restructuring for KTM’s parent company, Pierer Mobility AG, which ostensibly translates to the revered brand having filed for bankruptcy protection.

As this concerns a motorcycle company, the situation has far-reaching implications for the industry. Naturally, there is a great deal of speculation as to what led to this, consisting mostly of uninformed gossip and rumors suggesting over-optimistic sales projections and unsold units cluttering dealerships. 

There were certainly unavoidable, continuing stresses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically affected production and continuity in KTM’s critical supply chain. In the usual Monday morning quarterbacking online about what could or should have been done, I have to quote Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

The reality is that KTM is a major company with established global operations, employing thousands of people. Additionally, its parent company Pierer Mobility owns Husqvarna, GasGas, and, until recently, a controlling interest in legendary Italian marque, MV Agusta. 

With that come great many moving parts. Corporations of KTM’s size are in a constant state of flux, managing huge amounts of cash flow in dispersal all over the world to keep business humming. 

In KTM’s case, this means ensuring motorcycles continue to come together. Motorcycles that will tantalize—and sell.

To offer KTM some sympathy, the world is changing. There is uncertainty about the future of the combustion engine. Additionally, the tastes and habits of the motorcycling population and/or potential (that is, new) riders are varied, thus demanding manufacturers to cast a wider net in terms of models, styles, and functionality. 

These factors, in addition to a growing cost of living that has evaporated a good deal of disposable income, has resulted in decreased demand for motorcycles. And the industry is feeling it. 

Amidst this situation, companies of all stripes are regrouping and finding balance after the pandemic—which surprisingly saw an uptick in sales. In hindsight, the pandemic caused a rush of impulse buying that resulted in false barometer readings as to what the markets were doing. The task now is trying to calculate actual sustainable demand, as opposed to discerning merely short-term buying sprees.

KTM’s current situation made me look back at its history and to applaud its achievements. The Austrian manufacturer is, after all, a major success story, from its founding by a single individual through the company’s steady, frequently challenged rise to a global powerhouse. 

Today, KTM stands as a prominent manufacturer of advanced motorcycles with a major presence on paved and unpaved surfaces and circuits around the globe—with a whole lot of championship titles to show for it.

The Beginning

KTM’s earliest iteration took shape in Mattighofen, Austria, in 1934, when Austrian engineer, Hans Trunkenpolz, founded Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen (KTM). Initially, KTM was a small repair shop and dealership selling DKW motorcycles, later expanding to Opel automobiles. 

World War II forced the company to alter its operations and pivot to a diesel engine repair shop to survive. When that line of work declined in post-war years, Trunkenpolz decided to manufacture his own brand of motorcycle.

In 1951, KTM rolled out its first prototype—the model R100. A street bike, it was built out of in-house components and powered by a Rotax engine. 

By 1953, KTM had 20 employees who produced three motorcycles per day, officially establishing the R100 as KTM’s first mass-produced motorcycle.

KTM’s success in manufacturing the R100 attracted the attention of businessman Ernst Kronreif, who bought a major interest in the company. Ernst registered the name Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen—fortuitously resulting in the initials KTM remaining intact.

Growth

In 1954, KTM released the R125 Tourist motorcycle, following that up in quick succession with the Grand Tourist and Mirabell scooter in 1955. That same year, the company won its first racing title with the Austrian 125cc National Championship.

The following year marked a significant milestone in KTM’s burgeoning presence, when it won a gold medal in the prestigious Six Days Trials, establishing the company’s first major foray into off-road competition. Then, in 1957, KTM officially launched the Trophy 125cc sport bike, as well as the Mecky moped.

Kronreif died in 1960. That same year, the company released the Ponny I. Founder Hans Trunkenpolz would also pass away in 1962, the year the company released the Ponny II. 

After Trunkenpolz’s death, his son, Erich took over KTM (which had also started manufacturing bicycles) and released the Comet in 1963.

KTM enjoyed great success, the name becoming synonymous with scooters and mopeds. By 1971, it had expanded its workforce to 400 employees its catalog to 42 models of motorcycles and scooters. KTM also served as a vendor building engines and radiators for the automobile industry.

Another big event in KTM history came when Russian Guennady Moisseev claimed the prestigious and highly competitive 250cc Motocross World Championship, ending four years of dominance by Japanese manufacturers. Moisseev would surrender the title in 1976 to Heikki Mikkola by a single point. However, he would bring the title back to KTM in 1977 and 1978.

Testament to KTM’s growing success and worldwide presence, in 1978, a U.S. subsidiary was formed under the name KTM North America Inc., headquartered in Lorain, OH. From my own involvement with the AMA Motocross Championship series in 1982, it was generally known that KTM was using profits from its scooter and moped division to fund its R&D and race team efforts in motocross (at the time, most manufacturers chose to keep various divisions independent of one another).

The Downturn

After enjoying immense success with its scooters, that segment suffered a serious downturn in the 1980s. There are several reasons for this. 

One was the implementation of helmet laws, while another was that most countries started requiring scooters to carry insurance. Suddenly the low-cost, freewheeling aspects of scooters, which had made them so accessible, were severely undermined and sales plummeted. 

The downturn was so severe that KTM, which was largely dependent on the scooter category, came under financial pressures and had to halt production. In 1990, a holding company acquired a stake in KTM, but efforts to turn KTM’s fortunes around failed. 

Eventually, despite the company owners’ best efforts, creditors took over KTM in 1991 and the company was split into four divisions—motorcycles, radiators, bicycles, and tooling. This was the company’s first major brush with a potential end.

The following year, in 1992, KTM’s motorcycle division was acquired by KTM Motorrad GmbH and began a phoenix-like rise from the ashes. Essentially, the company emerged from bankruptcy to earn back a respected reputation for its products that proffered reliability, engineering prowess, and high performance. 

The combination of administrative know-how and industrial savvy—not to mention bold daring—required to maneuver a corporation of this size and regain a foothold in the marketplace is nothing short of miraculous. 

The Return

Another significant corporate move on KTM’s behalf during its rebirth was its aligning with Kiska, an Austrian design house founded by Gerald Kiska, renowned for innovative, aggressive designs and branding savvy. Kiska helped shape new models and dressed KTMs in dynamic orange liveries, branding them with the now famous “ready to race” mantra. 

It’s been a successful relationship ever since, with KTM and Kiska now celebrating their 30-year marriage.  

Kiska is a full-stop development entity, capable of taking a company, model, or product through design and engineering steps, and following its vision through to a full marketing campaign. The design firm ostensibly offers its clients the opportunity to partner intimately with a shared level of passion and to keep all moving parts of the often complex design and marketing processes under a single roof. 

The KTM/Kiska partnership was evident in 1994, when the highly successful Duke line of sport bikes hit the scene. The orange liveries came in 1996. 

KTM followed up the Duke with the liquid-cooled Supermoto and Adventure machines. Over the following two decades, KTM earned customer loyalty with its impressive winning ways. 

By 2015, KTM had not only saved itself from the jaws of potential ruin, but also completely turned itself around, with worldwide revenues reaching more than $1 billion and the company boasting a global workforce of more than 2,500 employees. 

During this period, KTM partnered with Red Bull, another Austrian powerhouse that had strategically swept the energy drink market. Ever since, the Red Bull logo has graced KTMs on tracks all over the world. 

Red Bull and KTM teamed up to create the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2007, providing a platform and launching pad for future champions. It’s been another very happy marriage. 

As an example of the independent thinking that has made KTM the unique brand it is today, its premier MotoGP weapon employed a steel trellis frame for years, in contrast to the aluminum chassis of other manufacturers. KTM also has maintained WP suspension components (a subsidiary of KTM) as its choice for forks and shocks over the predominant use of Öhlins units by competing teams. 

KTM’s dogged determination and commitment to competing in the world’s most vaunted race series was rewarded with the brand’s first MotoGP premier class victory in 2020, brought home by factory rider Brad Binder.

Since Moisseev gave KTM its first motocross title in 1974, KTM has amassed a staggering number of MXGP, MX1, and MX2 world titles, and even more Super Enduro titles. American Ryan Dungey won the supremely competitive Supercross World Championship aboard a KTM for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017. 

Since 1994, when KTM made its first foray into the Dakar Rally (considered the most grueling off-road competition on Earth), it has been the most successful manufacturer in the event, taking an astonishing 18 consecutive victories between 2001 and 2019. KTM also enjoys unequaled dominance in Cross-Country, Enduro, and Supermoto, as well as a strong presence in multiple classes in MotoGP.

A Changing World

The world of big business can be surprisingly tentative. Companies surge to greatness with seeming invincibility, only to fold in on themselves due to interior and exterior calamities. 

In the case of KTM, the brand has a very successful and proven product. Fortunately, during this time of restructuring, options to get the capital to keep the brand alive are emerging almost daily.

The world, motorcycles, and motorcyclists are changing. Smaller displacement offerings have found favor with riders seeking affordable, utilitarian transportation. Full-faired sport bikes are morphing into more practical upright machines. 

A good deal of once rideable land has been closed off to bikes. And everyone is waiting to see how self-driving automobiles might impact motorcycles. 

These factors, along with the loss of disposable income, are affecting the industry. That said, the motorcycle community is a passionate bunch. It tends to prioritize the hobby to ensure the continuation of the joy two wheels bring.

We all received a genuine punch in the face with the pandemic. Companies big and small are still reeling from its effects. 

All that said, there is a great deal of positive feedback coming in about motorcycles. Over the past 10 years, there have been new pockets of interest in motorcycles, with the number of women entering the fray being the most impressive. 

In the case of KTM, personally, I want to see the company turn this around and come back stronger than ever. Its orange presence on paved circuits and dirt courses around the world is something I don’t want to imagine being gone. 

KTM did it before—let’s hope it pulls another rabbit out of the hat.