KTM record sales figures

20th January 2016

Hans Trunkenpolz | Motorcycles | Off-road bikes

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Austrian motorcycle marque, KTM, has just posted details of its 2015 sales figures, and the news is that the numbers are hitting impressive new highs. 

Motorcycle sales for the brand have for the first time exceeded ‎€1 billion with 180,801 units sold worldwide. That's 14 percent up on the previous year (2014), and it represents a fifth consecutive year of growth. And to put that into a wider perspective, it means that in 2015 KTM built and sold around 30,000 more bikes than BMW, and around 120,000 more bikes than Triumph. That consolidates the firm's position as the largest European motorcycle manufacturer in terms of units built. The sales are split roughly 50 - 50 between off-road and on-road bikes.

KTM's founder is Hans Trunkenpolz. He began a locksmith and metal working business in Mattighofen, Austria. That was 1934. Three years later he began retailing DKW motorcycles and Opel cars under the business name: Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. A businessman named Ernst Kronreif became involved in the company in 1952. The firm of Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofenn became Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, hence the KTM initials.

The first KTM prototype (the R100) was produced in 1951. Three years later the bike went into small scale production. Today, 51 percent of KTM is in Austrian hands, while 47 percent is owned by Indian-based Bajaj Auto. KTM also owns Husqvarna.

So what are the top selling KTM's at the moment? And what do they cost? Here are the top three in each category:

Street
125 Duke: £3,999 (see middle image)
RC125: £4,199
1290 Super Duke R: £13,999 (image immediately above)

Off-road
250 SX-F: £6,849
350 SX-F: £6,999
65 SX: £3,449

You have to admire KTM's rapid growth over the past 10 or 15 years from a relative outsider to one of the leading motorcycle manufacturers. Our personal experience with KTM bikes is limited, but we'll be putting that right in the very near future.

Meanwhile, it would be nice to see Triumph entering the lower capacity bike market with a 125cc or 250cc machine. We're advised that without large volume sales it's tricky to make much money there, but clearly the Austrians are making it work. So far anyway.

Good luck to 'em, we say.

www.ktm.com

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