KTM adds more production capacity, 82% of bikes made to be electric

Building on a €10 million investment in electric bike production made in June of 2018, KTM Bicycles will once again bolster its output capacity, this time in response to a perception that demand generated over the past year will sustain for the foreseeable future.

Three additional production halls are to be tacked on to the existing facility, according to local press, who quote CEO Stefan Limbrunner as saying: “Initially we were in a state of shock. We didn’t really expect a sales boom of this size, but things went incredibly fast.”

“A year ago, we were assembling 900 bikes a day. When we could restart production after the first lockdown we already stepped up our capacity to 1,000 units, then 1,100. From January 2022 we will be making 1,500 to 1,600 bikes a day. In the financial year 2018/19 our turnover was €290 million, while for this year our order intake has a total value of €500 million. We expect to build 350,000 bicycles this year, of which 290,000 are e-bikes.”

That incredible tally means that 82% of the production will now carry pedal assist, which aligns with broader investment trends in the bike industry. Fellow European bike makers Cube and Simplon are among those also having made sustained investments in growing their electric bike production output in recent years.

The astonishing shift toward electric bikes is attracting significant outside attention; just yesterday North America’s largest electric only brand Rad Power Bikes received $159 million in investment from the likes of Morgan Stanley, among other high profile investors. CI.N has learned that Canyon’s 2020 majority investment was also based largely on the belief among the investment community that electric bikes will form a significant part of the future of mobility.

UK-based bike shops can access KTM stock via Fli Distrbution.