As the chips continue to fall on KTM's situation, it's staggering just how much money the company spent on expansion over the last few years. And how much that expansion has bitten them in the ass right now, as it lays off workers, slashes sitting inventory, cancels race programs, and cuts its global footprint.
For instance, KTM recently purchased a foundry within Austria, only to close it four months into its ownership. What, if anything, was the point of that?
But in KTM's most recent investor relations presentation, something that's supposed to give would-be and current investors a glimpse behind the curtain and assauge fears over its financial situation, which is dire at best, one statement stood out to the writers at RideApart. And that's just how many dealerships the company has worldwide.
Now, I get that KTM is a large company, encompassing KTM, GasGas, Husqvarna, and for the moment, MV Agusta. And that the world is a big place, and most dealerships selling those four makes are likely part of larger dealer networks that sell other makes, too. But when I saw that KTM counted 4,760 dealerships in its portfolio, I couldn't quite believe it. For comparision, Harley-Davidson, one of the biggest motorcycle manufacturers on the planet, and likely the most well-known, only has around 1,400.
No wonder KTM is $3 billion with a "B" in debt.
