KTM has announced that it too (in addition to BMW) is to pull out of INTERMOT and EICMA this year.
In carefully coded remarks, it appears to be suggesting that INTERMOT should NOT be staged in 2021 instead, but continue to observe its alternate annual cycle with the next show in 2022.
In March the PIERER Mobility Group, Europe's largest motorcycle manufacturer (KTM, Husqvarna, GasGas) announced its workforce would be taking a two week "company vacation" from March 30 through April 10, initially citing interruption in its component supply chain from northern Italy. However, as with most, if not all other manufacturers in Europe, this is expected to be extended further to the end of April at least, probably by Austrian government regulation.
The company stated that the availability of all models was guaranteed in its worldwide dealer network for the start of the season, but, like many other listed companies, cancelled its published guidance for the 2020 financial year, saying that the crisis "requires daily reassessment of the situation".
PIERER Mobility AG reported record results for 2019, with 280,099 motorcycles sold for a +7% increase on the previous year. Turnover was
€ 1,520.1m (+4%), and EBITDA was € 240.8m (+14%), an EBITDA margin of 15.8%. In 2019 the company spent around € 121m on product development and around € 44m on operating systems and infrastructure investments.
Sales of KTM motorcycles were 234,449 units, with 45,650 Husqvarnas sold; for the 2022 financial year, PIERER Mobility AG has reiterated its sales target of 400,000 motorcycles and set itself the goal of making Husqvarna Motorcycles the third largest European motorcycle manufacturer.
Having encountered pushback, like many businesses PIERER Mobility eventually decided to cancel the dividend it has said it would pay to its shareholders.
Additional news includes the launch of the KTM 890 Duke R "Super Scalpel", described as the "sportiest bike in the midweight segment"; and a 'KTM Ultimate Race 2020' (optimistically slated for May 24-29) in which twelve KTM Adventure riders from Europe, South Africa, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Adventure Rally series riders) will race aboard equally prepared KTM 790 Adventure R Rally machines for a six-day long challenge of more than 1,000 km across the Moroccan desert dunes - shadowing the theoretically upcoming Merzouga Rally.
At the time of writing, the fourth annual edition of the European KTM Adventure Rally (scheduled for Nafpaktos, Greece, on June 9-12) is still in play.
