Off-road manufacturer Gas Gas is bankrupt, and one potentially interested buyer is KTM. But as we see in this video (we found it on Asphalt & Rubber), Gas Gas employees aren’t happy about that prospect.
In the not-too-distant past, Europe had a healthy collection of off-road manufacturers producing enduros and trials bikes. Beta, Gas Gas, Ossa, KTM, Husqvarna, Husaberg and Sherco all produced fairly competent off-roaders, offering a lot of diversity in the market.
But in the last few years, that’s changed. KTM bought Husaberg. Cagiva bought Husqvarna, moved production to Italy, then sold it to BMW, who sold it to KTM, who moved it to Austria and merged it with Husaberg. Ossa merged with Gas Gas, sort of — they work out of the same factory.
In other words, it’s been a bloodbath of bankruptcy, if you can pardon a mixed metaphor. And, this spring’s announcement that Gas Gas is bankrupt and up for sale did little to improve the mood.
Now, there are rumours KTM is considering purchasing Gas Gas, to further beef up their lineup and also likely extend even greater control over the off-roading scene. Is that good news or bad? It depends who you ask — Gas Gas employees certainly don’t seem to relish the idea of packing up their Spanish factory and moving it to Austria, as you can see in the video below.
[…] May, word broke that Gas Gas was bankrupt, and when employees made it very clear they didn’t want to work for KTM, it appeared the brand might die off, just like so many of Europe’s offroad manufacturers […]
Where does Bultaco fit into all of this ? 😉
Ah yes – dead in the ’80s, and back now as an electric bike brand. …
An older friend of mine used to race them. I always thought one would make a cool resto project, but good luck actually keeping it running without parts.
If you really wanted to get picky, you could also point out that all the old Can Ams were supposedly powered by made-in-Europe motors as well. …
A street-legal Can-Am 250 would be such a fun CMG resto project sometime. As far as I know, the only street-legal bikes made in Canada post-1970 (I think Indians were assembled here for a while). Trouble is, even if you got a Can Am running, would it stay that way? I doubt it.
Yup, the Can-Am TNTs were powered by Rotax, the same Austrian company that later produced engines for H-D and Buell.
As Bondo can tell you, if they started twice in a row it was a miracle,and they had a tendency to just blow up because….
True. I guess I should have clarified the Cagiva deal but the other stuff is so knotted it would take a feature article.
That would actually be a really great infographic – take all the Euro offroaders and turn them into a family tree
Cagiva bought Husvarna in 1986 and moved production to Italy, from Sweden. Husvarna was the later sold to BMW, and then KTM’s CEO or whatever title he goes by. Production was the moved to KTM’s works in Austria. OSSA never really merged with GasGas, just agreed to utilise the GasGas works as “synergy”, similar to the Suzuki-Kawasaki deal of a few years ago, but without shared models.