sportmotorcycle ag type corporation industry motorcycle founded 1934 founder hans trunkenpolz headquarters mattighofen austria key people stefan pierer ceo dr. rudolf kn nz chairman parent bajaj auto ktm ag subsidiaries husaberg husqvarna website ktm.com ktm sportmotorcycle ag is an austrian motorcycle manufacturer owned by cross industries ag and bajaj auto limited . ktm was formed in 1981 but traces its foundation as early as in 1934 . in 1992 the company was spun off from its parent company ktm when it ran into financial troubles . ktm was split into four companies all of which shared the same ktm branding and in present have many more subsidiaries with the same branding . however ktm sportmotorcycle is most commonly associated with the ktm brand because it still continues the flagship business of its parent company . ktm is known for its two stroke and four stroke off road motorcycles though in recent years it has expanded into street motorcycle production and developing sports cars . contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 ktm era 1.3 ktm sportmotorcycle 2 ownership 3 subsidiaries 4 joint ventures 5 design 6 racing sponsorship 7 off road motorcycles 8 two stroke development 9 street bikes 10 moto3 results 11 x bow 12 references 13 external links history edit ktm in 2012 foundation edit ktm 990 superdukes lined up at circuit carole france in 1934 an austrian engineer johann hans trunkenpolz 1 set up a metal working and locksmith shop in mattighofen . in 1937 he started selling dkw motorcycles and opel cars the following year . his shop was known as kraftfahrzeug trunkenpolz mattighofen but the name was unregistered . during the second world war his wife took care of the business which grew mainly of diesel engine repairs . 2 after the war demand for repair works fell sharply and trunkenpolz started thinking about producing his own motorcycles . the prototype of first motorcycle r100 was produced in 1951 . 3 all of the components of the motorcycle were produced in house except for the rotax engines which were made by fichtel & sachs . ktm era edit in 1953 businessman ernst kronreif became a sizable shareholder of the company which was then renamed and registered as kronreif & trunkenpolz mattighofen . ktm started serial production of r100 in 1954 . with just 20 employees motorcycles were built at the rate of three per day . the company s first title was secured shortly thereafter with the 1954 austrian 125 national championship . ktm first made an appearance at the international six days trials enduro in 1956 where egon dornauer secured a gold medal . racing continued to be a testing ground for production technology but next in line was its first scooter the mirabell . it started providing a factory team for the isde in 64 . as the company continued to expand the workforce totaled 400 in 1971 and forty years after it was founded ktm was offering 42 different models . in 1955 tourist 125cc model was developed . in 1957 ktm built the first sports motorcycle trophy 125cc . ktm s first moped called mecky was launched in 1957 followed by ponny i in 1960 and ponny ii in 1962 . the 1960s saw the beginning of the bicycle production . beside ktm was also able to produce motorcycles for the racing industry . ernst kronreif died in 1980 . two years later in 1982 hans trunkenpolz also died of a heart attack and his son erich trunkenpolz took charge of the company s management . its name was changed back to kraftfahrzeug trunkenpolz mattighofen . 4 at that time ktm had about 180 employees and a turnover of 3.5 m. in 1988 us subsidiary ktm north america inc. was founded in lorain ohio . international business then amounted to 72 % of the company turnover . in 1990 it was renamed ktm motorfahrzeugbau ag . scooter and moped turnover sank rapidly and production had to be halted in 1982 . erich trunkenpolz died in 1989 and in 1991 ktm applied for insolvency . its management was taken up by banks who split the company into four new entities in 1992 ktm sportmotorcycle gmbh motorcycles division ktm fahrrad gmbh bicycles division ktm k hler gmbh radiators division ktm werkzeugbau gmbh tooling division ktm sportmotorcycle edit ktm sportmotorcycle gmbh started operation in 1992 and later took over the sibling tooling division ktm werkzeugbau . in 1994 ktm sportmotorcycle gmbh was renamed ktm sportmotorcycle ag . 5 in the same year it started production of duke series of road motorcycles . in 1995 ktm acquired swedish motorcycle maker husaberg ab 6 and took control of the dutch company white power suspension . 7 in 1997 lc4 supermoto and lc4 adventure motorcycles are introduced by ktm . ownership edit ktm sportmotorcycle ag is owned by ktm ag formerly known as ktm power sports ag . in november 2007 bajaj auto limited of india acquired 14.5 % stake in ktm power sports ag and increased their shareholding to 47 % by 2012 . 8 at present ktm ag is 51 % owned by cross kraftfahrzeug holding gmbh a subsidiary of cross industries ag 9 and 47 % owned by bajaj auto . cross industries is founded by ktm s current ceo stefan pierer . 10 subsidiaries edit in present ktm sportmotorcycle ag has the following subsidiaries ktm racing ag ktm events & travel service ag ktm dealer & financial services gmbh husaberg ab husqvarna joint ventures edit ktm started exporting their gs model to usa in 1968 through an american importer john penton under the penton brand . this jv lasted until ktm established ktm america inc. in ohio in 1978 . 11 in 2005 ktm sportmotocycle began a partnership with atv manufacturer polaris industries with the goal of shared r & d and more importantly shared distribution networks . this partnership was a two year trial arrangement at the end of which both parties had the option of merging the two companies into one . in 2006 ktm announced that the partnership with polaris had been downgraded and would instead only supply their 450cc and 510cc rfs engines to polaris . 7 in january 2008 bajaj announced that it would jointly develop two new 125cc and 200cc bikes for europe and the far east . the bikes would be badged ktm . 12 in january 2012 bajaj launched the duke 200 model in india . 13 in 2015 ktm announced that it will invest us 5 million in a plant in the town of campana buenos aires and begin production in argentina one of the models of their bikes for which it will partner with simpa group . initially produce the ktm duke 200 a motorcycle that the company plans to sell in the domestic market and the projection for 2015 it s produce six models in total . design edit ktm quad since 1990 ktm motorcycles and automobiles x bow have been designed by kiskadesign a salzburg based design firm . it is responsible for the overall branding for ktm ; including the design of the vehicles shops exhibits and printed material . racing sponsorship edit mika kallio s 125 cc road race motorcycle samuli aro s wec e2 class bike tony cairoli s 350 sx bike ktm began in motorsports competing in motocross racing . ktm won its first championship in 1974 when guennady moisseev claimed the 250cc motocross world championship . 14 in the last few years ktm has gained more success in motorsports by dominating rally raid events such as the paris dakar rally and the atlas rally . in 2003 ktm started sponsoring and supporting road racing in various capacities with the most successful results stemming from their supermotard or supermoto efforts . ktm s new road racing focus will soon grow to include superbike competition with the help of their newly developed v twin engine dubbed the lc8 as employed in the 950 adventure dual sport motorcycle and more specifically the 2005 2006 990 super duke followed by the superbike contender known as the 1190 rc8 . the super duke will have a higher output second generation version of the lc8 engine geared for high rpm peak power as required in road racing and superstreet applications while the rc8 will sport a 1 190 cc version of the lc8 for more midrange . in 2003 ktm made their grand prix motorcycle debut in the 125cc class fielding two bikes for roberto locatelli and arnaud vincent with vincent being replaced by mika kallio mid season . ktm won the 125cc constructor championship in 2005 with mika kallio just losing out to thomas luthi in the drivers championship . they also fielded bikes in the 250cc class between 2005 2008 . in 2009 ktm announced their withdrawal from grand prix motorcycle racing in all classes and did not return until 2012 in the moto3 class . despite an early domination by ftr honda riders early in the season ktm would won the constructor championship in 2012 . the next season ktm riders took wins in every race of the moto3 class . ktm won a third consecutive manufacturers motogp title during the 2014 moto3 season before losing the constructor championship to honda in 2015 . they also supply the spec bike for the red bull motogp rookies cup . starting in 2017 ktm will field bikes in both motogp and moto2 classes as well ; with the ktm motogp bike the rc16 is scheduled to make a wildcard entry in the 2016 valencia grand prix . ktm offers a range of different engines for its larger motorcycles all liquid cooled . ktm s official company team colours are orange black and silver . to create a strong brand identity all competition ready ktms come from the factory with bright orange plastic with ktm emblazoned on the side of the radiator shrouds . all ktm bikes also come from the factory with a motorex sticker on the outside of the motor . all first fills of oil come from motorex as well . some official ktm teams use different colors for their bikes most noticeably in the dakar rally . ktm announced plans to launch a uk based uci continental cycling team . 15 the team known as ktm cycling team road and trail.com made its debut in 2014 albeit without uci continental status . 16 subsequently in november 2014 it was announced that they would supply bikes to team la pomme marseille 13 from 2015 with the team becoming team marseille 13 ktm . 17 off road motorcycles edit ktm 450 exc enduro motorcycle ktm manufactures multiple variations of off road motorcycles . motocross the current motocross line designated by sx includes 65 85 105 125 150 and 250 cc two stroke models and 250 350 450 four stroke models . in 2005 ktm released the new 250sx f to the general public . for the 2007 model year all of ktm s four stroke sx motors were re designed similarly to the 250 sx f in a dual overhead cam 4 valve line dubbed the rc4 . the sx f s are ktm s new racing motocross range introduced in 2007 . ktm now produce a 150sx 144 cc which was developed to take advantage of ama rule changes in the amateur classes . cross country the current line designated by xc includes a 250 xc and 300 xc two strokes models and the 250 xc f 350 xc f 450 xc f and 500 xc f four stroke models . they have a close ratio gearbox stiffer linkage suspensions and the four strokes have a shorter stroke motor design mirroring their sx counterparts . the xc line updates and replaces their old mxc bikes . enduro ktm began manufacturing competition enduro motorcycles in the 1960s and started competing in 1964 . by 1968 their 125cc gs model was imported