BMW sells Husqvarna to Pierer Industrie, owned by KTM CEO

The BMW Group has announced the sale of its Husqvarna motorcycle brand to Pierer Industrie, an Austrian company owned by the CEO of KTM, Stefan Pierer.

According to BMW’s press release, this is the first step of the restructuring of its BMW Motorrad business, which will from now on focus on urban mobility and e-mobility. Obviously, Husqvarna, which builds mainly off-road bikes, didn’t fit into BMW’s strategy.

“Therefore the BMW Group signed a purchase agreement with Pierer Industrie AG (Austria) for the acquisition of Husqvarna Motorcycles. The acquisition will proceed subject to approval by anti-trust authorities. Both companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price,” reads the statement.

BMW bought the Italian-based motorcycle maker in 2007 and has since invested significant sums to integrate the smaller company. Husqvarna Motorcycles was founded in Sweden in 1903 and sold to Italian motorcycle group Cagiva in 1987, becoming part of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. BMW acquired Italian firm Husqvarna from MV Agusta in 2007.

Husqvarna produces a diverse range of motocross, enduro and supermoto machines using their own two-stroke or four-stroke engines, ranging in capacity from 125 cc to 576 cc. BMW and KTM sold around 100,000 bikes each in 2012, while Husqvarna sold 10,751 motorcycles, a 15.7-percent increase over the previous year.