KTM bike

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KTM Fahrrad GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1992
Seat Mattighofen , Austria
management Carol Urkauf-Chen, owner
Franz Leingartner, managing director

Stefan Limbrunner, managing director Johanna Urkauf, managing director

Number of employees 600 (2019)
sales EUR 285 million (2019)
Branch Bicycle manufacturer
Website www.ktm-bikes.at

The KTM bike GmbH is a global bicycle manufacturer with headquarters in Upper Austria Mattighofen . It was founded in 1992 from part of the insolvent KTM Motor-Fahrzeugbau . Bicycle production goes back to 1964.

In 2012, KTM sold almost 200,000 bikes and achieved sales of around 120 million euros. In 2012, the company employed around 330 people at its headquarters in Mattighofen .

Company history

KTM logo on an old KTM Euro Star bike

KTM in 1951 by Ernst K ronreif and Hans T runkenpolz in M established attighofen. The first bicycle was manufactured in 1964 for the American brand "Fleetwing" to utilize the motor vehicle production, which was in economic turmoil. In 1989 the one millionth bicycle was celebrated.

KTM Fahrrad GmbH emerged from the former KTM Fahrzeugbau AG, a company of the Taus Group, which had to file for bankruptcy in 1991 . In December 1991, at the meeting of the creditors' committee, the offer of the bicycle wholesaler Hermann Urkauf from Salzburg, who also traded in KTM bicycles, was accepted to purchase the "bicycle" division for a purchase price of 35 million Austrian schillings . In 1995 the company faced bankruptcy again.

On January 7, 1996, Carol Urkauf-Chen took over the management and was able to save the company from bankruptcy . She comes from Taiwan, traded in particular in bicycle frames and came to Europe through trade in bicycle frames and her later husband Hermann Urkauf to Austria. In 1996 she was divorced from him. Among other things, it optimized the work processes without using short-time work or financial help. Urkauf-Chen has been registered in the commercial register as the sole owner of KTM Fahrrad GmbH since 1997 .

In 1998 the production of bicycle frames (made of steel) in Mattighofen was given up. In 2001, an acrylic frame painting system was put into operation, an essential element in being able to label the wheels with "Made in Austria".

The final assembly of the bikes in boxes in teams of 2 - mostly 1 woman and 1 man - was introduced. In this assembly box, a bicycle is completely assembled from a prefabricated frame including fork and bottom bracket and already spoked wheels with all the necessary parts. Road construction was partially replaced with this method .

In 2007, a new building with a curved glass front was built for the company headquarters in Mattighofen.

In 2010 the second company KTM Bikes Asia was founded, which mainly serves the Asian market.

In 2012 Carol Urkauf-Chen won the Upper Austrian Pegasus Special Prize with KTM Fahrrad. News and Chamber of Commerce Upper Austria for the best company run by a woman.

On November 20, 2015, the Federal Competition Authority (BWB) announced a decision by the Cartel Court dated September 9, 2015 (29 Kt 6 / 15-14) against KTM Fahrrad GmbH, according to which the company issued a Has to pay a fine of 112,000 euros.

In 2017 Markus Wildauer won the prestigious hill climb "Kelchsau Classic" on a KTM road bike, ahead of his team mate Maximilian Kuen. This success then brought a lot of media coverage for the KTM Revelator model series. In 2020 the highest court for KTM Fahrrad ruled that Pierer Mobility AG is not allowed to use the brand name for bikes.

Key data

The product range of the company includes various types of bicycles as touring bikes , trekking bikes , mountain bikes , Downhill -Bikes, racing bikes , triathlon wheels up to pedelecs (electric bikes). In 1964 the first KTM bicycle with a universal trekking steel frame was produced. 1,000,000 bikes were produced by 1989. The material used for the frames is no longer steel , as was previously the case , but predominantly aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastic . In 1994 KTM sold its first bike with an aluminum frame. According to its own statements, KTM developed the first mountain bike with an electric drive.

KTM has roller dynamometers that are able to simulate the entire life of a bicycle in around 50 hours. They are used in particular for product development and quality assurance of the range . The company has received several awards for its design in the past .

Under the current leadership the company achieved a sales increase of 20 million euros in 1996 to 6 times, 120 million euro in 2012. KTM bike put its products at first only in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, exported today ( 2012), however, in 49 countries. In 2012 the 4 millionth bicycle was sold.

Three quarters of the bikes are built in Mattighofen, where 300 employees work - twice as many as in 1996. 150 work in the factory in the Czech Republic, and more at KTM Asia, which manufactures bicycles especially for Asia and Australia. 50 travelers look after the bike dealers. (As of 2014)

Web links

Commons : KTM Bikes  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated December 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 6.0 MB) Zweirad-Industrie-Verband e. V. (ZiV) - Members & Key Figures 2012, accessed on August 22, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ziv-zweirad.de
  2. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 22, 2013@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ktm-bikes.de  
  3. ↑ [2] nachrichten.at - Franz Leingartner is the new managing director of KTM Fahrrad, accessed on August 22, 2013
  4. ↑ KTM: Leingartner follows Spießberger radmarkt.de, September 6, 2011, accessed November 13, 2017.
  5. ↑ https://www.sazbike.de/steller/ktm-fahrrad-gmbh/stefan-limbrunner-befoerdert-1222304.html
  6. ↑ KTM sprints to new sales levels with e-bikes ( memento from January 15, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )wirtschaftsblatt.at - KTM sprints to new sales levels with e-bikes, accessed on August 22, 2013
  7. ↑ https://derstandard.at/2000066697833/E-Bike-Streit-in-Mattighofen-KTM-will-KTM-ausbremsen
  8. ↑ Mountain Bike, 02/14, Extra (Austria) p. 1, (2014).
  9. ↑ Thomas Etzlstorfer: KTM company history zweirad-etzlstorfer.at, April 13, 2014, accessed November 13, 2017. - On the origin of the name KTM. Figure of a Fleetking .
  10. ↑ In the management position: Carol Urkauf-Chen directs KTM velototal.de, August 26, 2016, accessed November 13, 2017. - Interview on the occasion of 20 years of company takeover by her.
  11. ↑ Birgitta Schörghofer: Where men and women screw on bicycles Salzburger Nachrichten, March 21, 2014, p. 16, text online at Argus Steiermark: graz.radln, net, accessed November 13, 2017.
  12. ↑ Susanne Dickstein: Carol Urkauf-Chen: “I promote performance, not women” nachrichten.at, April 28, 2012, accessed November 13, 2017.
  13. ↑ http://www.bwb.gv.at/KartelleUndMarkmachtmissusen/Entscheidungen/Seiten/BWB-K-381-Geldbu%C3%9Fentscheid-gegen-KTM-Fahrrad-GmbH.aspx
  14. ↑ Andreas Fuchs: List of results Kelchsau Classic. In: my.race - result. Andreas Fuchs, August 20, 2017, accessed on January 11, 2018 (German).
  15. ↑ SAZbike: Only KTM bikes can call themselves KTM. Retrieved on August 3, 2020 (German).
  16. ↑ Peter Sempelmann: From the good bike - KTM bike defies the crisis in the bike industry trend.at, April 15, 2014, accessed November 13, 2017.