Bajaj-KTM 125cc bike to be shown at the 2010 Auto Expo
KTM, the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer in which the Pune-based Bajaj Auto upped its stake to 32% in March this year, has announced a 25% cut in production for 2009. As with most other motorcycle manufacturers, KTM is faced with declining sales and reduced profitability and hence the company is planning to scale back its production.
Compared with the 93,300 bikes it produced last year, KTM plans to only produce around 70,000 motorcycle this year. The company had recently laid off around 300 of its employees and now plans to run shorter production shifts, because of which another 700 of its employees may have to take pay cuts.
However, KTM continues to invest in R&D and, along with Bajaj Auto, is working on a 125cc street bike which it aims to unveil at the EICMA show in Italy, in November this year. This bike will also be shown at the 10th Auto Expo in Delhi in January 2010 and could go on sale in Europe and India simultaneously, during the first quarter of 2010.
KTM is also working on developing various other kind of vehicles that are aimed at sustainable mobility in the future. Among others, these vehicles include a battery-powered off-road bike and a small car, which could be similar in concept to the Tata Nano.
[Via: indiaautomotive]