CFMoto and MV make progress under KTM’s wing

Summer’s behind us, the schools are back, traffic is a nightmare, and we’re all back to work, noses against the grindstone. But few people are as busy as the good folk at KTM. The senior brand in the Pierer Mobility Group has had its hands full with its sister marques – Husqvarna and GasGas – for a while now, as well as the WP Suspension subsidiary and a strategic partnership with Bajaj in India. But in the past year or so, it’s also had to focus on the Chinese CFMoto brand, with which it has built an extensive partnership, and MV Agusta, the Russian/Italian firm it bought a 25% share of last year.

BDN spoke to the UK arm of KTM at the start of September to ask how these new partnerships are panning out on the ground. And David Edwards, KTM UK’s dealer network manager, was happy to oblige, starting with CFMoto, which KTM is now operating in the UK.

“It’s clear that there’s a great opportunity with CFMoto,” Edwards told us. “And thanks to an impressive range, great technology, a four-year warranty and the price point of the bikes, we’re starting to really push forward with the brand. There’s no better evidence of that than with the appointment of our latest acquisition for CFMoto – Fowlers of Bristol – which is now live as a CFMoto dealer, having appreciated what the brand can offer as a business. Through KTM, we’ve obviously had a long association with the team at Fowlers, so they know how credible CFMoto is and align with our vision on where we go with it.”

But there’s been more to the CFMoto push than just new outlets, with KTM UK bringing its extensive marketing, press and PR guns to bear on the new market sector. “We’ve been active with CFMoto in many areas now, not just recruiting dealers – of which we now stand at 17 in the UK and Ireland, and we’re looking to at least double that number. After an initial press introduction at the start of the year, we have had media launches for the 450SR in Turkey and the 800NK in France, both of which received great reviews from the journalists who attended. We have a press fleet running out of the UK, which is also getting a lot of attention, as did the bikes at the ABR Festival in June, where we ran demos of the 800MT Touring and 800MT Sport to a curious crowd. They definitely had some of their preconceived ideas quashed after hour-long demo rides over the course of the weekend.

It’s clear that there’s a great opportunity with CFMoto

“Add to that a significant investment in digital advertising as well as attractive retail finance rates through our partner Santander Consumer Finance, and we’re really starting to move the brand forward. We’re listening, too, so have developed some useful dealer start-up tools as well as realigned pricing to make the range even more competitive and to reinforce the foothold we have in the market.”

It’s fair to say that MV Agusta hasn’t always been an easy marque to bring to market in the UK – but again, it seems like the current KTM infrastructure will be able to make sense of the premium luxury brand after some tough high-level thinking. Edwards again: “The MV Agusta side of the business is really starting to take shape now after a strategic review of the business produced a clear direction of where we want to take it as a brand. This has taken some time, but it was never going to be something we would rush. The story here reinforces MV Agusta’s position as a strong and respected brand with an incredible history and authenticity. Italy remains core to the company, with design and production being retained there to develop a truly exciting and exclusive range of machinery.”

What will that mean on the ground though? A small, focused, high-end niche network seems to be the plan, with a mix of old and new partners. “Naturally, with its premium positioning the brand merits industry-leading dealer standards to enable high levels of brand consistency to deliver beyond the expectation of the customer,” said Edwards. “That’s why we’ve been working hard with the dealer network to ensure they can deliver to the standards needed. Given the volume expectation, we are looking to appoint around 15 dealers to the network. We’ve worked hard to retain most existing dealers, who appreciate the support KTM can offer the business, and have some exciting announcements to be made in the near future, meaning we only have a few areas left to target where there is no current MV Agusta coverage.”

Interesting times with both of KTM’s ‘new’ sister marques, and David Edwards is keen to hear from potential partners. “For both brands, there are still openings for the right dealers in the right locations”. If that sounds like your business, then contact:
[email protected].