I have read, they got huge sales during the lock down and geared up production with lots of jobs. The sales dropped post lock-down back to pre lock-down and now they have to shed 500 people with redundancy.here is another good article on what happenend: https://www.motorcycle.com/bikes/news/ktm-ag-enters-self-administration-to-restructure-debt-44613250
lockdowns and the excitement around their products drove the growth. Unfortunately, they are a great target for private equity now. I say 'unfortunately' because private equity often mean a slow decline as the PE firms can improve efficiency quickly (reductions), but are slow on investment and will load up the company with the debt they take out to purchase it.I have read, they got huge sales during the lock down and geared up production with lots of jobs. The sales dropped post lock-down back to pre lock-down and now they have to shed 500 people with redundancy.
yes. they missed the forecast and overspent. The motogp effort alone is ~ 70M euro. I bet there will not be KTM in MotoGP next year.I am no business man, but I thought if one has a boom it will be followed by a bust! So what one does is improve efficiency by getting rid of the slackers, reduce ones debts in the boom and then when the bust comes ones business is better to cope with the bust. KTM did the opposite and took on more workers to increase production and are now in the situation presently.
Valid points Jan. I think India is their solution, cheap labor. Move all their production to India. Motogp is their promotion. Poor Austrians, all out of work! Just watched a video, saying German car industry down 40%!Yes I have been working in bigger companies going bust
And to some extent Mr Mailman here on the forum ( i Believe it was ) Posted about Norton's about 10 Bankruptcies
Firing the old management .Sending in others .That sometimes are a more refined type of criminals
That is why i Dont like how Mr Neumeisters looks
And he keeps rapping about Championship wins ,The Financiers are not interested in that and possibly not the most buyers either
Huge moneys on loan Can be good products but there is the Business side of it also
My Guess is that there will be difficulties lending more .. Some can benefit of a Bankruptcy
Wiping the slate clean getting the debts written off
Then perhaps selling off the Things people want I am Thinking the Husqvarna brand and so
What I have heard their road going machines are not good enough Except Husqvarna that are to small
Stiff Competition So I Agree messing about in Moto GP has
questionable value for at brand good at off road machines ( As I hear )
My Guess is Bankruptcy within 6 months
Maybe Off road bikes in Austria I don't know if they are good enough to keep on The rest sold off
Possibly India
Yes, this has been an issue but is rather small: https://www.motorcycle.com/bikes/features/whats-the-deal-with-ktm-camshafts-44610016Some internet links here in Sweden
Machine translation
As I understand it, it is the 790 and 890 models that have the big problems, and that they are made in China. (KTM's first parallel twin engines)
The problem is "cheesy camshafts" or soft camshafts, if you will. A camshaft is supposed to last the entire life of the engine.
KTM's handling of this has been catastrophically poor. They have denied they exist, they have then put the blame on users, and then they have created conditions for refunds/repairs that are difficult for users to meet. The result is that the owners are furious and KTM's reputation has dropped dramatically.
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It is not true that it is made in China. The 790n was initially manufactured in Mattighofen, but production of that particular one was transferred to CF Moto's factory in China after the 890n was introduced. The 890n (which also has problems) is made exclusively in Austria.
The problem is not primarily the camshafts themselves, but that the oil system is inadequate and does not provide sufficient lubrication of the cams. Partly due to a wrongly designed top where the manufacturing tolerances were too poor to get a continuous channel of sufficient diameter and partly that the oil pressure from the pump was too low.