KTM Stops Production Again; Suppliers Won't Supply Unless Paid in Advance
When the Parts Stop Coming: KTM’s Grim Reboot
by Dean Adams
Thursday, April 24, 2025
KTM
See, here's what KTM simply don't get: these two aren't some kind of executive superheros. The guy on the right may--still--have boat-anchored the company by going billions in debt and being asleep at the wheel, while the new guy on the left has to try and clean it all up with bankers and suppliers who had to take a 70% haircut on what they loaned or fronted to KTM.
KTM had only recently restarted the production lines in Austria, and now they’ve been shut down again. Reports from Europe suggest they managed to build fewer than five thousand motorcycles before the kill switch was thrown. It’s unclear when the production lines—and the factory workers—will be back in operation.
A “lack of parts” is the official reason. Which is one way to look at it.
Obviously KTM’s relationship with its suppliers has been severely damaged by its bankruptcy filing and the subsequent reorganization, which saw KTM’s bankers forced to wipe 70% of the company’s debt off their books. Meanwhile, suppliers can’t deliver parts—presumably because many of the small independent shops KTM relied on no longer exist.
KTM’s reorganization plan took down many of its suppliers. Those who couldn’t withstand a 70% haircut on what KTM owed them were forced out of business. Those that managed to survive now refuse to front parts to KTM without payment in advance.
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