KTM’s parent company, Pierer Mobility Group is cutting jobs again. PMG is also the parent company of Husqvarna, and GasGas, and owns of 50.1 per cent of MV Agusta.
PMG says this latest round of restructuring is due to slowing sales, after doubling their staff in the last 10 years due to high sales. The company did not specify the number of employees to be laid off.
“This reduction in personnel after years of rising employment is painful,” says a Pierer Mobility Group statement, “but necessary in order to maintain and secure the competitiveness of the production site.” The statement blames slowing in 2024 due to European market volatility and high interest rates in the US.
Consequently, PMG is reducing production in Mattighofen, Austria and is instead looking to further utilise their partnerships with CFMoto in China and Bajaj in India.
“Due to the increasingly fragile supplier industry in Europe,” the PMG statement reads, “the Pierer Mobility Group is utilising the favourable economic conditions in these regions (China and India) to secure its competitiveness. An efficient and high-quality supplier industry is being established there.”
PMG expects a decline of between 10–15 per cent in the 2024 financial year. They added that cost saving measures will allow them to break even or even make a before-tax profit in 2024. “The Executive Board assumes that the cost savings introduced in the current financial year will be able to compensate for the negative effects of declining sales to such an extent that a balanced to slightly positive EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) can be generated.”
Additionally, PMG is expected to downsize some of its motorcycle racing projects. Unconfirmed media reports from the Motocross World Championship (MXGP) suggest that Husqvarna will not be present next year, while another team will only compete in the MX2 category only. Furthermore, GasGas might not be present in MXGP next year, either. As such, Jeffrey Herlings of the Red Bull KTM team will be the sole PMG representative in MXGP.
In MotoGP, the Tech3 team will not use the GasGas name but returns the the Red Bull KTM branding from next year.
