It’s being reported that BMW has divested itself of the Husqvarna motorcycle brand in a sale to Austrian company Pierer Industrie AG. According to published reports, Pierer is owned by KTM CEO Stefan Pierer. KTM is partly owned by an Indian manufacturer Bajaj. So here’s where it gets a little confusing. What will be the relationship between KTM and Husqvarna? While the CEO of KTM will own Husky, does that automatically assume he will share proprietary information from Husqvarna with KTM, or vice versa?
We’ve posted the press release from BMW below. It doesn’t address any of the questions we raised, so it looks like we’ll have to wait and see.
Press Release: The BMW Group is realigning 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. Therefore the BMW Group signed a purchase agreement with Pierer Industrie AG (Austria) for the acquisition of Husqvarna Motorcycles. The acquisition will proceed subject to approval by anti-trust authorities. Both companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Expanded offering for urban mobility and e-mobility
BMW Motorrad achieved a new sales record in 2012. With the realignment of its motorcycle business, BMW Motorrad aims to maintain profitable and sustainable growth over the coming years. Its current core business consists exclusively of premium vehicles in the categories “Tourer”, “Enduro”, “Sport”, “Roadster” and “Maxi-Scooter” from 650 to 1600 cc. BMW Motorrad entered the urban mobility segment for the first time in 2012 with the C 650 GT and C 600 Sport maxi-scooters. The next step in the expansion of the product line-up in this segment will be the series launch of the “C evolution” electric scooter in 2014. Further innovative vehicle concepts are also under consideration. Drive trains will include both environmentally-friendly combustion engines and pure electric drives. This move by BMW Motorrad reflects the BMW Group’s overall focus on early identification of trends, such as megacities and traffic density, as well as environmental issues. Corresponding products and services are already available for the Automobile segment.
Continuation of product offensive
In addition to the expansion in the field of urban mobility, core segments from the 650 single-cylinder entry-level bike to the 6-cylinder luxury tourer will also be selectively expanded.
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