Motorcycle Maker KTM Passes Harley and Aims at Kawasaki
An Austrian upstart wants to break into the top three globally.
KTM employees test e-bikes at the E-Cross Center in Mattighofen, Austria.
Photographer: Michaela Handrek-Rehle/Bloomberg
In 1991, Stefan Pierer took over KTM, a failing Austrian manufacturer of motorcycles trying to counter aggressive rivals from Japan. A no-nonsense turnaround expert who at age 35 had already revived and auctioned off makers of ski boots and building materials, Pierer figured he’d spend a few years fixing KTM before moving on to the next challenge. Fast forward 28 years, and KTM is building as many bikes in a week as it did in the whole year when Pierer took over. It just surpassed Harley-Davidson Inc. as the leading motorcycle maker outside of Asia. And Pierer is still in charge, with a fortune valued at more than $1 billion thanks to his success at KTM. “The quality at the time was so poor we were mocked,” he says. “But every crisis is also an opportunity.”
KTM is now gunning to become one of the top three manufacturers of full-size motorcycles. In the past decade, Pierer has more than quadrupled sales even as the European market for two-wheelers shrank 14%. He says new designs and a greater focus on Asia will help him reach annual sales of 400,000 by 2022, which would put him within striking distance of today’s No. 3, Kawasaki Motors Co.