KTM Money Woes Mean More Job Losses

As the KTM financial crisis continues to play out, the list of victims is starting to add up. The latest shut-down is their Austrian museum, as the company staffing the facility as contractors for KTM has just declared insolvency, but there are many others getting caught up.

In North America, there have been layoffs of front-line staff, including a lot of people from KTM’s head office in Chambly, Quebec. At this point, there’s still an office there, and it’s not all being run out of KTM North America in California, but it is safe to assume that the U.S.-based HQ will increasingly take on management of Canadian operations.

Having said that, they still have staff in Chambly, and will still run race programs this upcoming summer, we are told, but expect that to be scaled back. Also, don’t expect the KTM Adventure Rally Canada to return to Calabogie in July—that’s not happening for now. Maybe we’ll see it back in the future if the company gets its feet back under it.

Overseas, there is talk about KTM’s suppliers facing massive financial issues themselves as KTM’s bills go unpaid. These companies may not be responsible for the issues KTM faces but nevertheless, they are downhill in the money flow chain, and if KTM runs out, they run out too. This makes a recovery strategy for KTM more difficult, as the Euro operations will be hard to carry on if their supply chain is blown up.

The next meeting in KTM’s debt restructuring plan is scheduled for February 25. In the weeks leading up to that, we’ve heard some of the parties involved are accusing KTM of dragging their feet on the moves necessary, saying leadership is trying to retain control of the company and giving their creditors little money compared to what they’re owed. Outside that group, some moto-pundits are still saying KTM’s situation isn’t that bad, and they can dig themselves out of their hole. No doubt the truth behind all these opinions will become much more obvious at their next meeting, when the facts are laid out before a judge who can call the next shots.