As has been rumored for the past few weeks, BMW has agreed to sell the Husqvarna brand. But the sale isn’t to KTM as originally believed, but instead to Pierer Industrie AG of Austria – the company owned by Stephan Pierer, the CEO of KTM.
BMW says the sale of Husky is part of the realignment of 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,” a release from BMW issued this morning states. “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 utilizing 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.”
BMW purchased Husqvarna from the Castiglioni family (the owners of MV Agusta) in 2008 and have been active in expanding the line-up – both with new off-road models and streetbikes like the Nuda 900.
Although it sounds like BMW will focus its efforts on the “urban mobility” sector, it closed its press release with… “core segments from the 650 single-cylinder entry-level bike to the six-cylinder luxury tourer will also be selectively expanded.”
BMW Motorrad achieved new sales records in 2012, according to BMW.
“With the realignment of its motorcycle business, BMW Motorrad aims to maintain profitable and sustainable growth over the coming years,” the release states. “Its current core business consists exclusively of premium vehicles in the categories “Tourer”, “Enduro”, “Sport”, “Roadster” and “Maxi-Scooter” from 650 to 1600cc. 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.”
