I’m trying to decide whether this is bad for CFMoto. The headline tells you most of what you need to know about this story, so the question I have is: who – if anyone – comes out ahead?
As KTM continues to try to dig itself out of a colossal financial poop-hole, its parent company, Pierer Mobility AG, confirmed last week that it will cease European distribution of CFMoto motorcycles at the end of May.
Hitherto, KTM had managed CFMoto’s distribution to the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain via a deal that came into effect in January 2023. Less than two years later, KTM’s pulling the plug on that deal – nominally in an effort to put out the dumpster fire that is its financial situation.
“The past few weeks have been marked by significant changes within the KTM Group,” the company said in a statement. “The company will focus entirely on the realignment of its own brands in order to effectively pursue its strategic goals.”
When the distribution deal was signed it was largely seen as a boost to CFMoto, giving it access to a number of more established dealerships, as well as the rub of legitimacy from a brand better known to Western riders. But I wonder if that ever really happened.
The scuttlebutt I’ve heard from some folks is that in dealerships where KTM and CFMoto were sold together, the Chinese brand got short shrift. Exactly why is unsure. Sales staff attitudes about prestige? Commissions? A mixture of both? I have no idea. That gossip might not even have been true.
Whereas I do know that many dealerships are struggling to get their hands on Chinese product. In the case of Benelli, Voge, and CFMoto, dealers are selling bikes as fast as they come in. Often faster. The folks at Poole Moto, for example, told me they had 10 customers on a waiting list for the 450MT, with at least two new people a day calling to ask about them.
With that kind of popularity, you could argue that CFMoto doesn’t really need KTM’s clout. It certainly doesn’t need the Austrian brand’s current state of disarray. One wonders if the reason customers are having to wait to get their hands on CFMoto models doesn’t have something to do with KTM’s disrupted state of affairs.
To that end, I suspect that the breaking of this deal doesn’t necessarily hurt either party. Much. Probably KTM loses out on a certain amount of money. But as far as CFMoto is concerned, if a more with-it distributor can be found the Chinese company may come out ahead.
KTM, meanwhile, will continue to rely heavily on CFMoto for support. A key part of its strategy for getting itself out of its current mess is shipping A LOT more of its production to China, ie, giving more work to CFMoto. The latter company will also continue to handle KTM distribution in China.
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