Bajaj pushes for cost cuts to boost KTM performance

Plan also entails tighter governance at the Austrian motorcycle maker, its largest acquisition

- Ayaan Kartik [e-mail]

Bajaj Auto completed the €800 million acquisition of KTM in May 2025, after the Austrian motorcycle maker filed for bankruptcy in November 2024..

After helping secure funding to clear KTM’s dues, Bajaj Auto Ltd has shifted focus to cost cutting and tighter governance at the Austrian premium motorcycle maker, its largest acquisition, the Indian firm’s executive director Rakesh Sharma told Mint.

The cost-reduction initiatives include a review of sourcing strategies and identification of synergies, while Bajaj steps up its role on KTM’s supervisory board, Sharma said in an interview. “Our support to them started with the first phase, where we had to get the liquidity organized. The second was putting in the top management. The third phase is now the execution of the turnaround plan, one important constituent of which is reduction in costs, and capturing of synergies, which has got several work streams,” he said. “We believe that the team has to be run as an independent company.”