Think back to October 2023. If you're the type of person to follow KTM, MV Agusta, or the motorcycle industry in general, you might recall that's when KTM parent company Pierer Mobility publicly stated its strategic plan to deepen its cooperation with MV Agusta.
How did it plan to do this, exactly? At the time, Pierer said it would do this with a call option on a majority stake in MV Agusta, to be exercised sometime in spring 2026.
It's only spring 2024, though, so why are we giving an update? Because on March 15, 2024, Pierer Mobility formally announced that it's performing an early takeover of a majority stake in MV Agusta.
As with the plan that was previously announced, it's still doing this via the call option; that part hasn't changed. What has changed is really just the timeline. It's doing this via subsidiary company KTM AG, which will now purchase an additional 25 percent of MV Agusta shares, for a total of 50.1 percent of shares in the Varese-based OEM.
In addition to taking a majority stake in MV Agusta, KTM will also take over industrial leadership of MV Agusta. It plans to ramp up production volume at the Varese factory to over 10,000 motorcycles annually, and previously announced plans to modernize the factory in order to facilitate just such a move back in July 2023.
MV Agusta Is Also Getting A New CEO
In addition to announcing the early takeover of MV Agusta, Pierer Mobility also concurrently announced that Pierer Mobility AG executive board member Hubert Trunkenpolz will now become the new CEO and chairman of the board for MV Agusta. He will take over both positions from Timur Sardarov, who will "continue to be available to the company as Vice-Chairman, brand ambassador, and consultant."
What does Sardarov have to say about all of this? He posted the following statement on his official Instagram account following the Pierer announcement.
We're interested in seeing what the future now holds, as questions arise whether or not MV Agusta be a fourth brand to share engines and platforms with KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas, or will it be something more?
The principal thing that sets MV Agusta apart in the minds of fans worldwide is always its unique approach to design, with creations that are like no one else's.
That's in no way meant as a backhanded compliment to Kiska, which creates plenty of cool stuff that has fans of its own. But it's hard to argue that MV Agusta very much has its own design language and personality, so it will be interesting (and perhaps slightly stressful, if I'm honest) to see how that evolves moving forward.
Here's hoping for the best.
