KTM to pause MotoGP bike development amid huge financial crisis

KTM's MotoGP bosses have decided to pause the development of its bikes amid the huge financial crisis the Austrian manufacturer is facing, Autosport has learned.

The decision is one of the measures included in the plan aimed at keeping KTM's sporting project safe after the manufacturer filed for insolvency last week.

It was revealed that KTM, part of the Pierer Mobility group, has a debt of around €3 billion, a much bigger sum than originally believed.

Autosport understands that MotoGP officials held a meeting at KTM's workshop during the last race of the season in Barcelona during which they informed everyone present of the company's delicate financial situation.

In the same meeting, the staff were reassured that the sporting project would continue running in the world championship.

As well as emphasising the cost containment policy that has been in place for some time, the parties also discussed the pause in the development of the bikes that will be ridden next year by Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder in the factory team, and Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini in the Tech3 squad.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: MotoGP

The development will be initially paused during the winter and until the pre-season tests that will take place at the beginning of February in Sepang.

During the post-season test earlier this month in Barcelona, the new components on the RC16 bike were limited to a new fairing and a couple of new screens. Neither Dani Pedrosa, who a few weeks ago renewed as a test rider, nor Pol Espargaro took part in the day's testing.

Although KTM has unofficially assured its teams that it will be on the 2025 grid with all four of its bikes, Autosport understands that there are doubts in MotoGP promoter Dorna's headquarters, about it.

In recent months, KTM has undergone a major restructuring, with several branches of the parent company - KTM AG, KTM Components GmbH and KTM F&E - being split off. The racing division was placed under the umbrella of KTM Racing GmbH.

Initially, this seemed to make the racing division safe, but the size of the financial hole that was exposed is much larger than initially estimated.

In addition to the aforementioned freeze on the development of MotoGP bikes, KTM is expected to present a strategic plan in the coming days that aims to isolate the sporting division. Within the company itself, it is considered essential that the racing arm remains active, otherwise the blow to the company's image would be even greater than it is at present, as it would most likely be even more damaging to sales.

A huge financial crisis

It was during the second half of 2024 that the first rumours about KTM's financial health began to emerge, particularly in the wake of overproduction and a significant drop in sales, as well as a failed experiment with the electric bike project.

Already in the second half of the year, reports along those lines began to spread around the MotoGP paddock.

"I have been to the factory and they have assured me that the sporting programme is going to be fully supported, so we can rest assured," said Acosta in September after the Misano test.

From then on, and for the next two months, the bad news accumulated. The hardest blow so far came at the beginning of last week, when the start of the insolvency process was made public, with the aforementioned debt of almost €3b.