That’s the motivation, to compete against the Japanese. That’s the only thing that’s driving us. It’s coming close. It’s like in motocross: Every lap you look to see how far ahead your competitors are. We can see already the yellow one (Suzuki) and the green one (Kawasaki) are not too far away. There’s a lot of room to grow, especially on-road. In Europe you are talking about a 10 percent total market share, and in the United States it’s between 5 and 6 percent. As for the emerging markets, in India we have a strong foothold with our partner Bajaj, but there are some in which we are not doing as well. It is very difficult to do business in Brazil, but if you want to become a global motorcycle producer, you have to be there. You need new products. There was a dramatic situation with the economy in 2008–2009. We didn’t know how much the business would go down; it turned out to be about 40 percent. We got rid of all things we didn’t need to survive, but what we didn’t stop is developing new products. So the crisis, if you look back, was also a huge opportunity. The three keys to success are brand, globalization, and innovation. That, for sure, is the backbone of our success. Also what’s very important is we have one of the most experienced management teams making clear, sharp, and quick decisions. Husqvarna is the European interpretation of Harley-Davidson, in a way. It is the second-oldest motorcycle brand and made all types of bikes during its 100-plus years. So we are able to enter the street market with the so-called “new classic retro naked bike.” And that doesn’t affect KTM because retro is not part of KTM’s philosophy. Safety is a very important responsibility. We are the first manufacturer to have ABS on all of our street models, even the 125s. Fortunately we have a strategic cooperation with Bajaj, which produces almost 4 million entry-level bikes per year, so we have an afford-able ABS system. It will take time, but I’m convinced even cornering ABS will come down to the 125s someday. We will go MotoGP racing in 2017 and build a replica for series production: the RC16 V-4. Closed-course only. A superbike with more than 200 horses, in my opinion, shouldn’t go on a public road. We will do everything in-house with no outside teams. It is very ambitious, but it’s the only way to come close to a podium. Anyway, all the knowledge we get from that program we need for our premium-priced products. The Freeride E has been for sale for half a year now. We were thinking the buyer would be the young mountain-bike guy or the really sporty enduro guy who wants to train in his private garden. But it’s hunters, landlords, guys up in the mountains running restaurants or whatever. For now it’s limited by the high price, but if the cost of batteries comes down, it will become a serious alternative. For urban mobility, for sure it’s coming, but I don’t see big bikes going electric in the short term. There are a lot of different concepts that even the car manufacturers are inventing for urban mobility: electric, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, whatever. But it’s not a motorcycle. It’s not a part of the motorcycle world in the future. The biggest lesson we learned from our ATV experience is to keep focused on priorities. We are a motorcycle producer, both on-road and off-road, and let’s focus on that. So much to do and still so much room to grow. Still we are a small company compared to our competitors.Gadget Reviews: mamaktalk.com
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