KTM Beats Both BMW and Harley-Davidson in Global Unit Sales  The Austrian brand continues steady growth under leadership of Stefan Pierer.

KTM fans won’t be surprised that Team Orange is roosting its competition these days. In 2018 the Austrian company outsold its German rival BMW Motorrad by nearly 100,000 units, and that’s including the Motor Works’ scooter line. And in even more intriguing news, KTM passed Harley-Davidson for the first time – selling 33,000 more bikes last year than the iconic motorcycle brand.

And yes, those winning numbers are directly related to the way KTM keeps outdoing itself with modern and capable off-road, ADV and street bikes, but the real story is in the company’s current management and its history of good choices.

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To catch you up, KTM’s been around since 1934 but it didn’t gain traction in Europe until after WWII when founder Hans Trunkenpolz turned to making affordable, hard-wearing bikes much appreciated by the recovering citizenry. His son Erich carried on the tradition as KTM became one of Austria’s biggest hero brands long before Red Bull stole the spotlight. In 1989 Erich passed away heirless and the company was taken over by misguided investors who drove it into bankruptcy in the early nineties.

In walks a young brand-maker with a golden touch named Stefan Pierer who scoops up KTM in 1991 for an adjusted $7 million. “The quality at the time was so poor we were mocked,” he told Bloomberg. “But every crisis is also an opportunity.”

KTM first won the prestigious Paris Dakar Rally in 2001 with the 660 Rally and hasn’t stopped winning since.

Today the company builds as many bikes in a single week as it did the entire first year Pierer was on board, topping 261,000 unit sales for 2018. His revamp began with a razor-sharp focus on the off-road market, tossing out the original scooter and street line. He also knew a racing effort would be important and by 2001 KTM had conquered the Dakar and has remained undefeated ever since.

Right around that same time the company brought back its street line headlining sophisticated, hard-core play bikes which today account for about 1/2 of sales. In a move Bloomberg Businessweek heralds as one of CEO Pierer’s wisest, KTM partnered with India’s giant, Bajaj Auto Ltd, in 2007 trading technology for a very inexpensive manufacturing hub, not to mention access to its massive dealership network there.

Most recently Pierer gained kudos for rescuing and rebranding the Husqvarna line after BMW muddled its own go at Husky resurrection. Now KTM’s fearless leader is itching to acquire Volkswagen-owned Ducati and would also like a chance to rebrand now-stagnate Triumph in order to solidify Europe’s cache as a motorcycle producer.

The Big Picture

Indeed it’s all one big happy dance until perspective comes into play. In the big picture KTM is still small potatoes on the global stage, a speck in the shadow of Honda’s 20 million bikes sold for 2018 and barely a blip for number two, Yamaha, with 5.4m unit sales. The number three spot, currently held by Kawasaki, feels within reach for Pierer however, who believes that by 2022 his sales will be in the 400,000 unit range.

Another ‘buzz kill’ is the fact that in actual revenue, Harley-Davidson made way more bank – over 5 billion in pricey bike sales and especially its branded kit, compared to KTM’s 1.75 billion. BMW also raked in more revenue on fewer units with $2.4 billion in sales.

Though Harley’s core customer is aging out and the tariff-riddled maker as-of-yet has no Asian partner to help lower manufacturing costs, it is launching some innovative designs, including a well-publicized E-model, the LiveWire — and because the ADV market is so hot — the Pan America adventure bike we’re all so darn curious to see.

Shrinking sales has Harley-Davidson looking for a revamp of the brand with new ventures like the upcoming Pan America Adventure Bike.

Pierer is likewise looking to electric energy for the future of KTM saying “E-bikes are becoming a huge deal. The market has exploded, and as a large manufacturer, you have to be there.” Though he has also brought up concerns about manufacturing costs and the safety of sitting on that much high voltage, he says that by 2025 he expects one quarter of KTM’s revenue to come from E-mopeds and other electric two-wheelers.

As Europe’s rising star expands its product line and aggressively targets Asia’s vast market we’re bound to see more podium finishes on KTM’s business side. Surely not as fun to watch its victories in racing, but satisfying still to see such hard work rewarded.