On ‘yer bike! Husqvarna, Raymon push KTM group to record 2020 sales (sort of)

Pierer Mobility AG - the parent company spun off from KTM - has announced it defied the impact of COVID-19 by posting record-breaking group sales in 2020… so long as you’re including e-bike units.

While the industry is braced for most - if not all - manufacturers announcing a downturn in annual sales after lockdown measures during periods of 2020 hampered availability and product chains, Pierer AG has rather boldly proclaimed to have achieved a 10th record-breaking year in succession.

However, delve a little deeper into the stats and this fact hinges on its e-bike ranges across the Raymon and Husqvarna brands, which saw sales grow by 33% to 56,064 from a 2019 total of 41,993 units.

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That margin was enough to plug the decline in motorcycle sales globally for Pierer AG across its three engined brands - KTM, Husqvarna, GASGAS - with 270,407 motorcycles finding homes in 2020, compared with 280,099 sold in 2019 (- 3%).

In all, Pierre AG sold 326,471 motorcycles and bicycles and generated a revenue of 1,530M EUR. Europe accounted for around 150,000 of this total.

The results reported for now are only top line figures with a detailed breakdown including models likely to be confirmed next month.

What’s coming next for KTM, Husqvarna, GASGAS?

KTM has been plotting a course towards world domination for some time as it seeks to plug most gaps in its range with new 890 and 490 platforms for its Duke and Adventure ranges, both of which are going through various updates as we speak.

Next up from the Austrian firm will be the unveiling of the new 1290 Super Adventure, which will be officially launched next week, while a new RC390 (or 490) sportsbike is on the way and there is talk of a racier ‘RR’ version the 1290 Super Duke coming too.

It’s been a while since anything fresh came from Husqvarna but that doesn’t mean it isn’t working hard behind the scenes, with the largest model yet in its history - the 901 Norden - coming up soon.

Meanwhile, Pierer/KTM is also set to put the Swedish firm front and centre of its new burgeoning EV push, starting with a new scooter and then a low-displacement equivalent naked similar in size to the Svartpilen.

Acquired by Pierer in 2019, GASGAS plans have been hampered by COVID-19 but work is going ahead on its own badge-engineered range of KTM Adventure-based off-road focused models, while it will move into circuit racing for the first time in 2021 branding Moto3 World Championship champions Aspar.