"For the second year in a row Husqvarna has had record-breaking sales. Husqvarna ended the 2015 sales season by selling 32% more bikes than in the previous 12-month period. A total of 21,513 Husqvarna motorcycles were sold in 2015 compared to the 16,337 bike sales achieved in 2014. Among the milestones achieved in 2015 was the success of the 2016 Husqvarna motocross line-up, which went on sale in September of 2015. On a side note, when the Husky sales are added to KTM’s 2015 sales the number is 180,801 units in 2015. This is a 14% increase over KTM/Husky sales in 2014." Husky bike sales represent 12% of the total number sold.
Wow, I guess this shows what a bad idea husaberg was, they should have got husqvarna long before they did.
I wonder how berg would have done with the same treatment. Figure configuring it like a husky te with the wide ratio and linkage. Also, cloning mx bikes and throwing someone like anderson on it. They didn't seem to invest much into berg. Still crazy how sales have gone up like that, doesn't seem to hurt ktm much. This figure for ktm reflects they're indian scooter stuff too?
It's the oldest adage in motor sports, Win on Sunday, SELL on Monday! With Husky taking podium finishes in many disciplines, brand recognition and coverage send people to the dealer.
The odd thing about that saying is that traditionally motorcycle shops were not open on Monday and most still aren't. Definitely a true statement when it applies to cars and trucks.
Most the closed on Monday shops are long gone..... KTM NEVER put as much effort into Husaberg that they have in Husky, maybe because they were hoping to score Husky next time it came up for sale.... Husaberg never had the lineage that husky had
KTM bought Husaberg primarily for their engine technology. They bought Husqvarna primarily for their widely recognized brand name. BIG difference in sales results. Engine technology is behind the scenes, but name recognition sells bikes.
The name helps without a doubt but I'd have to agree that it's racing and advertising selling them. I'm 30 and only knew about huskys the last 5 years or so. The history of the brand was nothing to me although I think it's cool reading about now.
Yeah I can see your point. If they'd raced Husaberg the way they are now racing Husky it would definitely have had an impact on the sales.
Imagine how happy Herr Peirer is as the overwhelming majority share holder (at or near 100%) in Husqvarna at least 51% in KTM......that industrialist is bankrolling and all I get is this dang bike.... He bought the brand a very smart move. that's where this push is- it's Stefan's baby (all him) and it's got a super amount of moto clout just in it's name.
Husaberg raced more than you remember, but not MX as KTM made them a strictly enduro brand. A huge Enduro World Championship Team that had great success with the 70 degree engine bikes and then the rebadged KTM 2T and 4T bikes. I can't remember all the years, but Pela Renet won E2, Mathias Bellino won Junior and Jamie McCanney won Youth Cup Championships. Graham Jarvis became a household name in Extreme Enduro on a Husaberg TE300, winning the Extreme Enduro Championship. In the US you had Mike Lafferty and Nick Fahringer riding Factory Husabergs in the National Enduros Series. Nick came very close to winning the Championship, until a blown knee derailed his effort. They also rode GNCC and OMA Series on a limited basis. Nathan Woods raced WORCS Series and other west coast races on a Husaberg. In local north east series, there were a bunch of Husaberg support riders. Husqvarna has definitely taken it to the next level now, so combine that with the iconic brand image and boom... big growth.
This makes you wonder what would of happened if Cagiva then MV would of done somthing like this as have a good USA factory team. I know back in 1999-01 Fast by Ferracci had the Husqvarna Super Cross team. In those years in the USA there where a lot more Huskys sold they anytime in the 90s. The thought at that time was Husqvarna is back, but not to be. The Swedish knew a good American team would sell bike here Malcolm Smith, Brad Lackey, Kent Howeton, Dick Burleson and Terry Cunningham are just a few who where on USA Team Husky. The Italians where never that into racing here in USA. Never understood that. The Italians had a good race teams in europe, but I guess they thought the USA was not worth it.The Swedish knew win Sunday sell on Monday or Tuesday.. I really think BMW with Andrew Delong got the idea but gave up on it to soon.
There's no doubt could have done really well. They have much deeper pockets then ktm. They chose not to. SP said in an interview that everyone around husky was passionate about what they were doing but the parent company wasn't as excited. They were advertising, getting bikes in tests and had Andrew Delong but a win in GNCC or national enduro is a 1/4 page clip in magazines. Not near the impact of a 10th in supercross. Coverage would have been unreal. They were building a brand the back way which is street bikes. Brought in the terra which was modern direct competition for klrs. If they kept reengineering existing bmw stuff and did it sooner, they could afford to race in their own right. Even sp knows street bikes build a brand. Best part, they were making it happen while giving it it's own identity and filling a different portion of the market. Tons of what if's but we'll never know lol.
I never gave Husqvarna much thought until one of my co workers rode one into to work I took one look at it and was blown away they are beautiful bikes I really like how the fuel tank is behind so I can get as far forward as possible on the steeper hill climbs and it being street legal but fully off road capable and more power for a 245 lb rider and cheaper then a ktm at least at the time sold me to the Husqvarnas
Cagiva never quite got racing right in the US... The second coming of Cagiva NA in the early 90's didn't have enough passion or resources. Kevin Hines and Fred Hoess competed in the National Enduro Series and GNCC in '92 and '93. Kevin did pretty well. I know 2 people who worked for Cagiva NA then and they say that sales were higher in those years, than in the early Cagiva USA/Ferracci early years. I would have thought like you, that '00-'02 were the really big years. It always seemed that as US market started to build steam, Italy would falter. In the mid 90's Cagiva started to falter under the financial strains of their vast racing program... 500GP road racing, World Superbike, World Enduro, MXGP, Rally-Raid. The Cagiva 500 GP road race program was almost all paid for by the Factory, with minimal sponsorship. This period ended with the sale of Ducati to raise cash. They would work after that to build the moribund MV, into their premiere marque, but it never made the money Ducati did. Ferracci tried hard with racing Husky, but their mainly road racing background didn't transfer over to MX/off road that well. They did get the 125 SX win, with Travis Preston and Fred Hoess was close to a National Enduro Championship twice. Then the '02 factory flood and other factors caused a financial crunch, that would continue until MV sold Husky to BMW. Ferracci sunk a lot of money into Husky in the US and Italy, that the never saw back. It may be too cynical, but the BMW owned Husky USA, just never really got it together. The main people involved saw it was temporary and used it to leverage a more permanent position in other parts of the BMW family. Andrew Delong, really clicked with the X-Lite, more than any other rider and if he hadn't a few unfortunate injuries, he would have had two GNCC XC2 Championships and possibly a few more National Enduro wins. The new Husky seems to be getting it, as did the old Swedish one.
Ferraci guys were awesome to deal with and got me the fastest 125 i've ever ridden..... It was always a cluster when Cagiva owned them... parts took forever if ever but really it was the same with swedish bikes.... the Ferraci bikes were easy to get parts for... BWM was a joke IMO.... I do like the 125 and the XLite and if hey would have put any effort into the 2 strokes they wouldve done great.... bringing in the terra and all those bikes were just out of character for a Husky and you were never going to sell many.... I'm glad KTM took it over and clearly is running with the ball... this is serious effort and money going into the brand.... Now if I could get my boy a Husky 65 to match my soon to be FC450 I would be very happy....
Beta is trying to do the best they can in several different series, they just don't have the money to pay the top riders. Cody Webb sold a lot of bikes for Beta, but he went with the money and I can't blame him. KTM/Husky buy all the top riders, if one beats them, they just buy him. It was the same when Red Husqvarna was winning(Antone Meo).
I totally agree. Since most of the winning is done by the rider I think it's best to look at what the top privateers are riding. When they fund their own or most of their own operation they are going to pick the best bike to be made into a winner. I have to also consider how tall they are since I'm 6'6" and my son is 6'8" we look for what is working for the really tall fast guys. I really liked the quality of my older Beta trials bike and Cody Webb is kinda tall (6'4") guy so I was all fired up to get a Beta 250 until I saw one in person and found out how small it was. They must have really modded the sub-frame and triple clamps for him or maybe since he was from a trials background the small size didn't bother him. I ramble a bit but my point is I was seriously looking at a Beta based on reputation and the fact that Cody Webb and Max Gerston were winning on them caused me to seek out a dealer and drive 100 miles to look at one.
