KTM AG Lays Off 500 Employees As It Opens A New Chapter
Pierer Mobility AG officially gets renamed Bajaj Mobility AG
KTM AG is laying off about 500 employees, mainly from middle management and salaried positions, as the company seeks to reduce fixed costs. According to KTM AG, the company had a headcount of 3,794 employees as of December 31, 2025.
The layoff announcement comes the same day that the parent company, Pierer Mobility AG, gets officially renamed as Bajaj Mobility AG. The name change effectively removes the name of the previous owner, Stefan Pierer, from the company altogether.
The two moves together frames today as somewhat of a company reset, as KTM comes out of insolvency under the hand of its new majority owner, Bajaj Auto. The layoffs follow the company's previous moves, divesting itself of MV Agusta, selling off the division that produced the X-Bow race car, and terminated its European distribution deal with CFMOTO in 2025. Those moves emphasized a focus on the company's core brands, KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas.
With these changes, KTM AG says it expects to see economic improvements in 2026.
Begin Press Release:
Bajaj Mobility AG (formerly PIERER Mobility AG): Next steps in the restructuring as part of the efficiency program
As part of an efficiency program, KTM AG is implementing difficult but necessary measures to continue the successful new start of 2025 following the insolvency of KTM AG at the end of 2024. The aim is to sustainably strengthen competitiveness by reducing fixed costs, streamlining structures, focusing the product and project portfolio, and optimizing our international site and leadership network. As part of this necessary realignment, a reduction of around 500 employees – predominantly in salaried positions and middle management – is unavoidable. In addition, the required early warning notifications pursuant to Section 45a of the Austrian Labor Market Promotion Act (AMFG) will be submitted to the competent Public Employment Service (AMS). The headcount as of December 31, 2025, amounted to 3,794 employees.
“This reduction in positions is a difficult but necessary decision to lower our costs, slim down structures, and thereby place the company on a stable footing for the long term,” said CEO Gottfried Neumeister. “We are reducing complexity across all areas—for example in our model range, in IT, and also in the organization of our departments, particularly by removing one management layer.” All measures are taken with a clear focus on the Motorcycles segment with the three core brands KTM, GASGAS, and Husqvarna.
In 2025, the company had already divested its bicycle business with the sale of FELT Bicycles. The termination of the distribution of CFMOTO and the sale of MV Agusta and X-Bow marked further milestones in the realignment. With a smaller core team in the future and significantly lower structural costs, KTM AG is pursuing its goal of simplification and focus in order to once again become one of the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers.
With Bajaj Auto International Holdings B.V. as a strong majority shareholder, Bajaj Mobility AG has solid support in accompanying the rightsizing in Austria and worldwide. This is a clear signal that KTM will continue to be positioned as a strong international brand. In 2025, KTM achieved record successes in motorsport with 29 championship titles. With the consistent implementation of cost reductions, economic improvements will also be realized in 2026. Customer and dealer confidence in KTM became clearly evident in the second half of 2025 through inventory reductions, which were carried out faster than expected due to strong demand.
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Maybe if they laid you off you would think diff.
I worked for a manufacturing company here in the States that went from a worker-heavy condition and a great place to be, to a management-heavy place after a change of CEO. The changeover was absolute hell. That management-centrist change sent me out the door, through a systematic gaslighting, punishment, isolationist, guilt and blaming, overworking, and PIP process.
Managers by default are much more prone to thinking their position to be privileged, entitled. There's exceptions, but I'd wager few people are exceptional in this issue.