BMW has dumped its Husqvarna Motorcycles subsidiary, however the new proprietor isn’t KTM, as widely rumoured. The business has in fact been bought lock, stock and barrel by Pierer Industrie AG, an Austrian private holding company apparently wholly owned by KTM chief executive Stefan Pierer. BMW and Pierer have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
In a terse statement, BMW Group describes the move as a realignment of its BMW Motorrad business: “In the context of changing motorcycle markets, demographic trends and increasing environmental demands, BMW Motorrad will expand its product offering to exploit future growth potential. The focus of the realignment will be on urban mobility and e-mobility. By restructuring the segment, the BMW Group will concentrate on expanding and utilising the resources of the BMW Motorrad brand.”
Quite what Husqvarna’s relationship to KTM will be is now a subject of conjecture. One distinct possibility is that the acquisition is part of an exit strategy from KTM by Pierer — with or without his long-term business partner Rudolf Knünz — leading to the sale of their 51 per cent controlling stake to India’s Bajaj Auto, which already has a 47 per cent shareholding in the KTM business.