Husqvarna 2014 and forward... Or life after BMW.

[HuskyRips]

Husqvarna 2014 and forward... Or life after BMW.

The Rumor’s over (Yes KTM now owns Husqvarna) and that thread has run it’s course. I suppose now the speculation is going to be on what direction Stefan Pierer and his design team is going to take the Husqvarna brand on moving forward from here on.

Some feel he's going to position Husqvarna below KTM and others feel he’s going to merge Husaberg and Husqvarna... Personally I believe from what I know he’s going to position Husqvarna as an equal to KTM and grow both brand separately using KTM resources as much as possible so that he has two winners in his stables.

I also believe to grow the brand he’s going to have to do it outside the goldfish bowl that many in the small Husqvarna community live in, so I wouldn’t expect him to leverage much from the BMW/Husqvarna years or the Cagiva/Husqvarna years... The man owns a brand and I believe the goal is again build it so it’s a equal to the KTM brand, just with it’s own unique look and feel.

If you look at the business model KTM has with their partner Bajaj in India they share the same engines for their 200 models as in the KTM 125 Duke with the Bajaj 200 Pulsar

The KTM’s 200 Duke shares the same engine as the 200 Pulsar, but looks totally different

The 200 Pulsar is as modern as any Japanese sport bike and shares the same engine as the KTM’s 200 Duke ... But that’s about it.

What happened in India is Bajaj doubled their sales by creating two different brands and models using a modern common platform... Neither brand cannibalized the other and I believe that’s the plan for KTM and Husqvarna under Stefan Pierer ownership.

[HuskyRips]

Husqvarna design moving forward...Design by Gerald Kiska

It’s no secret Stefan Pierer owns his own design house as in Kiska design... I believe from here on out Kiska is going to be taking the design lead and all future models are all going to be coming out of this design house in Austria... Truth is over the last 5 years Kiska has been blowing Husqvarna Italy’s designs right out of the water... So expect the same to happen once the 2014 Husqvarna break at EICMA 2013 in Milan.

Here’s a recent article of a new Electric scooter KTM showed in a Greek publication.

KTM E-Speed: electric scooter concept

By Rory Reid on Friday, 22nd March 2013

Who would have thought! The Austrian company unveiled at the Tokyo salon an unlikely prototype electric sport scooter, named E-Speed!

Finally seems to be ahead of us encounter increasingly the phrase "Urban Mobility", ie "urban mobility". Remember when BMW sold the Husqvarna, made reference to the change of the line, to give greater weight to the most urban movement. The Bavarians have already set their own electric scooter concept, the C-Evolution (formerly Concept C ), which in fact is continually evolving, though still not go into production.

Now, although a few weeks ago, the CEO of KTM Stefan Pierer said he ... has not come yet two hours of power , arguing and even many serious objections to living in Tokyo he turned 180 degrees, indicating strong support in electric future!

Among other things, Pierer said: "We are in KTM utterly confident for electric mobility as a perfect complement to conventional motors. Longterm, electric vehicles will become the leading solutions for small distances, especially in environmentally sensitive areas such as is both the countryside and the densely populated metropolitan areas. Vehicles such as E-Speed ​​and Freeride E, can help riders to gain social acceptance! And not just because it is environmentally friendly, but because it's easy, fast and highly entertaining. "

True to the motto Pierer, that every piece of a bicycle KTM should have both aesthetic and engineering functionality, the design of the E-Speed ​​is aggressive, sport, and simple and it features top quality, but "exact" premium look. Once again the Design Studio of the great Gerald Kiska , tore!

Technically, the E-Speed ​​takes full advantage of the know-how accumulated by the R & D of Mattighoffen. The original attributes according to KTM 11kW (almost 15Hp) and torque 3,7 Kgm, while the official number of the top speed is 85km / hours. Frame is hybrid steel spaceframe, with mounts come from WP ! Ahead lies a very impressive monompratso fork, complemented by the aesthetic monompratso scissors back with the single, centrally mounted shock absorbers have levers. The final drive is belt driven, while the weight announce the scooter is 140 pounds. The lithium ion battery has a capacity of 4,36 kWh, while a full charge takes two hours.

[HuskyRips]

Short term wise I believe this is close to what we’ll be seeing from Husqvarna in 2014

[HuskyRips]

And what's going to become of the Husqvarna Factory in Italy

Don't be surprised that KTM sells the Factory to MV Agusta

http://www.mvagusta.it/en/company/the-company

And production of Cagiva Motorcycles start up again... maybe even with dirt bikes that resemble the 250 and 310 x-lites.

http://cagiva.it/

Hey it's italy and stranger things have happened.

[joedit]

Looks like Ill be buying a Cagiva dirt bike.

[highmarker]

ktm hinted they spent way too much money developing the 350 motor and need to find homes for more of them to be profitable, Is a husky 350 in the cards?

Edited March 23, 2013 by highmarker

[Slackkinhard]

I wonder what will become of this x-lite motor

[HuskyRips]

I wonder what will become of this x-lite motor

Here's my take on all of this:

1. KTM bought the husqvarna motorcycle brand and wants out of Italy as well as everything created during the BMW/Husqvarna years.

2. As part of the sale of Husqvarna to KTM they got the Italian Husqvarna factory as well as the union workers.

3. MV Augusta would love to get their CAGIVA brand restarted and that Husqvarna factory looks real attractive across the lake.

So here's my take:

1. KTM is going to cut a deal with MV Augusta were they get the factory and the union employees... Which MV Augusta knows how to deal with.

2. MV Augusta restarts CAGIVA out of the Husqvarna factory and as part of the deal continues to supply KTM with pre 2013 Husqvarna parts.

3. MV Agusta also gets the 250 and 310 motors for a new CAGIVA product.

4. KTM gets to move forward with a clean slate to do with Husqvarna as they choose to.

5. And lastly KTM will become the distributor for MV Agusta here in the United States as well as in other markets where they own the distributor.

You heard it here first folks.

Edited March 23, 2013 by HuskyRips

[rancher1]

I am guessing you know the factory really isn't across the lake.

[scottiesbe]

And what's going to become of the Husqvarna Factory in Italy

Don't be surprised that KTM sells the Factory to MV Agusta

http://www.mvagusta....any/the-company

And production of Cagiva Motorcycles start up again... maybe even with dirt bikes that resemble the 250 and 310 x-lites.

http://cagiva.it/

Hey it's italy and stranger things have happened.

ktm really needs an open class 2 stroke it would be nice to see them bring back the cagiva wmx500, or the 500 husky auto or 550 all left hand drive with the latest ktm chassis & wp suspension

[MrBlahh]

they have the 300

[scottiesbe]

they have the 300

never rode a 300 two stroke I guess you could call it open class since that is all there is

[MrBlahh]

they are not far away from the old 500's

[scottiesbe]

they are not far away from the old 500's

I like riding open bikes but I gotta stay with my 200, those old open class bikes used to beat me up 25 years ago...

[HuskyRips]

I am guessing you know the factory really isn't across the lake.

Yes... across the lake!

[Norman_Foley]

Yes... across the lake!

I always knew it was across the Lake..... The MV Factory is right on the water. When Aermacchi built seaplanes there, they would push them out of the factory and right into Lake Varese to launch them. Also the location is why the factory flooded, back in Winter '02-'03.

[DEMI]

Looks like Ill be buying a Cagiva dirt bike.

same here!!

Edited March 23, 2013 by DEMI

[Norman_Foley]

I hope MV can pull it off and build a Cagiva dirt bike again and I'll take a Mito with a X-Lite 250 in it!

Edited March 23, 2013 by Norman_Foley

[HuskyRips]

I hope MV can pull it off and build a Cagiva dirt bike again and I'll take a Mito with a X-Lite 250 in it!

Norm, CAGIVA NA had one of those mito's with a te250 motor in it for some of the motorcycle shows they were doing here in the states... not sure what happened to it, but it's probably in eroldo's garage now.

Edited March 23, 2013 by HuskyRips

[HuskyRips]

Looks like Ill be buying a Cagiva dirt bike.

Don't hold your breath... MV Agusta/ CAGIVA has no interest in building dirt bike other than small street legal 125 t2 and 250 t4s.