Business – Reinhold Zens, new president of KTM France – Occasions KTM

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Reinhold Zens, new president of KTM France

Business - Reinhold Zens, new president of KTM France - Occasions KTM

KTM France has just announced the arrival of Reinhold Zens, 33, as president of the French subsidiary, replacing Karl Pernull. Francophile and Francophone, Mr. Zens takes stock of the brand and its positions in France.

33 years old – precisely the average age at KTM! -, Reinhold Zens is from Wels, near Linz (Austria). Francophile and Francophone, he lived in Strasbourg for a year in 1998. "As I had been in contact with Mr. Pierer, the boss of KTM, I had completed my thesis and studies on the French market then participated with Karl Pernull in the creation of the French subsidiary.", he explains in a long press release published by KTM France this afternoon..

Francophilia and Francophone

First stationed at the KTM headquarters in Austria where he dealt with Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands, he joined the French team based in Saint-Priest, near Lyon (69). "Karl being called to other missions, I came to Lyon at the beginning of September and he left at the end of October".

Reinhold Zens today pays tribute to his predecessor who "achieved an exceptional job: France has become the third outlet for the brand behind the United States and Italy but ahead of Germany, with around 7,500 annual sales (cross country and mini motorcycles included). We have a very enviable position there, with 50% of the enduro market in particular. And our penetration in road motorcycles is already remarkable: we make 30% of our sales there, while our twin-cylinder LC8 only saw the light of day in 2003."(read our).

Faced with the current famous "crisis", Mr. Zens remains optimistic insofar as according to him, "France is currently less affected than most other countries", even if he recognizes that he will have to"correct our ambitions downwards" for the next year : "I sincerely believe that specialist brands will suffer less than generalists, but it is certain that we will have to correct our ambitions downwards for 2009. It is valid at all levels, from management to structures through competition, but there is no question of touching the quality of service, nor of selling off motorcycles to sell at any price. We intend to preserve both the working conditions of our distributors and the future resale value of our machines by their customers.".

"I like to say that KTM is a niche builder, in the plural", continues Reinhold Zens:"we do not aim for high unit volumes but we seek to be present where we are not necessarily expected, in niches where others no longer dare – or not yet – to go: the electric cross bike (Zero Emission Bike, planned for 2012), the sportcar (X-Bow, whose homologation has been acquired), the two-stroke (on which we continue to work intensely), the ultra sporty quad (XC and SX), in short, innovation in the sense of large, including under the Husaberg label".

Real KTM made in India

Regarding the opening to more general markets, Mr. Zens confirms that "the 990 SMT will indeed be a motorcycle of openness and conquest". As for the machines manufactured in cooperation with the Indian manufacturer Bajaj,"these are the 125 and 250 four-strokes planned for 2010, but I guarantee you that they will be real KTM, sporty, designed by Kiska, and at European prices", assures the new president for whom the slogan" Ready to Race ""is not an empty shell: of course, there is our involvement in almost all forms of competition (cross, enduro, rally-raid, supermoto, speed), our 13 world titles in 2008 and a range of machines that the ‘we can qualify as radical. At the same time, "Ready to Race" also applies to the men and women of the company, whose average age is around 33 years old and who are always up for it, dynamic, full of ideas, enthusiasm and projects.".

Reinhold Zens concludes by estimating that today, the slogan which best represents the KTM brand would rather be "customer intimacy, which can be translated as "proximity to the customer", whether the latter is the distributor or the end user. This intimacy, this complicity, we seek it at all levels, because this is precisely what a responsive and human-sized manufacturer like KTM can provide.".

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