Slowly but steadily, Indian automotive giant Bajaj Auto keeps on building up its stake in Austrian manufacturer KTM and, following the recent acquisition of another 6.
3%, it is now a little over the 47% mark, reinforcing its position as second shareholder within the company.
Still holding the top spot in KTM’s food chain is the homegrown pair Stefan Pierer (CEO) and Rudolf Knuenz (President), whose combined quotas make for a little more than 51%.
Bajaj Auto main man Rajiv Bajaj has already denied any interest in becoming the majority shareholder in KTM, but not many people in the financial business seem to believe that.
The Asian company got into KTM’s capital in 2007 with a starting 14.
5% quota, a move that was supposed to help KTM to break through the Indian market as well as paving the way for a new KTM production plant in India.
The first outcome of the partnership was the KTM 125 Duke, which turned out to be an outstanding success.
In 2011, 1 out of 8 bikes sold by KTM were built by Bajaj, but the plan is to have this percentage boosted to 50% by 2015.
In 2012 KTM aims at selling between 25,000 and 30,000 in India alone, projecting to hit the 200,000 unit sold target by 2015.
Thanks to Bajaj involvement in the company, KTM managed to be the best selling motorcycle manufacturer in Europe in the first two months of the current year, scoring 8,400 sales against the 8.
250-8.
300 units sold by BMW.