KTM boss Stefan Pierer swaps positions with Gottfried Neumeister and is now only co-CEO. In addition to Neumeister, the boss of exhaust manufacturer Remus is apparently also involved in the battle for KTM.
After three weeks without press releases and interviews, but the presentation of various models for 2025, the news came the day before yesterday that Stefan Pierer is stepping aside within Pierer Mobility. That should come as no surprise, because on Friday, January 24, the second creditors' meeting of the insolvent KTM AG and its subsidiaries KTM Forschungs- & Entwicklungs-GmbH and KTM Components took place in Ried im Innkreis.
The New KTM Enduro R
The 68-year-old KTM boss Pierer has been in the firing line of some 5.400 creditors for weeks, including a number of banks, suppliers and employees. Pierer's move can therefore be seen as an attempt to calm the situation in the run-up to the creditors' meeting and to remove himself from the firing line. It seems that Pierer still wants to have a hand in the reorganization of his group.
The numbers for KTM are still deep red.
The first preliminary figures for the 2024 financial year were published – as expected in view of the insolvency, a dramatic balance. More than 1.800 employees have lost their jobs in the meantime. With a turnover of 1,9 billion euros (2023: 2,7 billion), a loss of 300 million euros is expected and the net debt is likely to increase further.
KTM recently won the Dakar Rally
To reduce inventories, production was cut to 230.000 motorcycles, about a quarter less than in 2023. Sales to dealers fell 21 percent to about 292.500 units, of which 60.000 were through Indian partner Bajaj.
Sold too many motorcycles with too much discount?
Pierer Mobility sees it as a positive development that 40.000 motorcycles have now been sold from stock - originally stated as around 135.000. In addition, demand remains high: in 2024, 268.000 motorcycles were sold by dealers to their customers, almost as many as in 2023. It is true that since the summer of 2024, dealers have been offering huge discounts on the brands KTM, Husqvarna, GasGas and MV Agusta, which has significantly boosted sales.
The extraordinary general meeting of Pierer Mobility on Monday, January 27, should provide more information about which investors are interested in KTM. In addition to the Indian car and motorcycle manufacturer Bajaj and the Chinese motorcycle brand CFMoto, a financial fund from Hong Kong is apparently also one of the interested parties. Stephan Zöchling, head of the Austrian exhaust manufacturer Remus, seems to have been in the picture recently. He will be elected to the supervisory board of Pierer Mobility during the meeting on January 27.
Stephan Zöchling, CEO of exhaust manufacturer Remus.
Apparently he has already invested in the company: Zöchling was able to avert bankruptcy and thus the immediate closure of KTM just before the end of 2024 with a capital injection of 65 million euros into the Pierer Group.
Together with manufacturer Bajaj Auto, he would be prepared to invest 600 million euros in the reorganization of KTM in the long term. There are people within the group who assume that Zöchling wants to take over the shares of KTM owner Stefan Pierer in the long term.
The future of KTM remains uncertain. There are still some 600 million euros in outstanding liabilities. The factory is currently idle. Restructuring administrator Vogl announced after the court hearing on Friday that the company should resume operations on March 17. Whether that is a realistic date remains to be seen. The entire KTM Group had around 2023 employees at the end of 6.000; currently there are 4.400, including just under 2.000 at KTM AG, Vogl calculated. KTM AG still had around 2.500 employees when the insolvency proceedings were opened.
Photos: KTM en Pierer Mobility
Tekst: Danny Hermans
