It appeared for a while as if KTM management had gotten away with it. The PowerPoint decks looked convincing, the press releases were upbeat, and the orange Kool-Aid was flowing freely through Mattighofen. But behind the curtain, the accountants were sweating through their polos, and Bajaj was quietly sharpening the axe.

Reportedly the folks at KTM just waved the white flag on their company ops, announcing they’ll axe over half of what's left of their minimal workforce as their (now) parent company Bajaj goes full budget-mode, blaming “former management greed” and bloated staffing for the continuing mess.

For the past 18 months the KTM circus has been doing its best “everything’s totally fine” bit — with big grins, corporate recycled slogans and a full “raise your glass” cheer — even as the scoreboard turned red, the job cuts piled up and the cash-flow alarms started flashing. Much like Kevin Bacon in the final scene from the film Animal House, declaring “all is well” at their overflowing upside down revenue reports and the company was shwoing signs of burning, KTM kept the happy-face parade rolling while quietly rearranging deck chairs, slashing labs, trimming teams and bumping the fire-exit sign so it was just out of sight ...