KTM Reshuffles Its Supervisory Board as Bajaj Influence Grows
The moves sees Bajaj top-brass set to sit at the top of the table
The winds of change are blowing through the boardroom at Pierer Mobility AG, parent company of KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas A major shake-up is on the horizon, with three key members of the Supervisory Board, including Chairman Stephan Zöchling and Deputy Chairman Rajiv Bajaj, set to step down following the company’s ongoing restructuring process.
The resignations will take effect at the close of the next Annual General Meeting (June 23, 2025) which also sees board member Friedrich Roithner bowing out. In their place, Pierer is nominating three new names: Dinesh Thapar, current CFO of Bajaj Auto, and legal eagles Ernst Chalupsky and Ewald Oberhammer.
The restructuring move marks another chapter in KTM’s corporate comeback, following a period of financial uncertainty that threatened to derail the brand entirely. In the early 2000s, KTM was struggling to stay afloat amid intensifying competition and rising development costs. The breakthrough came in 2007, when Indian manufacturing giant Bajaj Auto stepped in, initially acquiring a minority stake (around 14.5 per cent) in the Austrian firm.
Over the following decade, Bajaj steadily increased its ownership, ultimately securing a 48 per cent stake, and injected the kind of cash, scale and production efficiency KTM desperately needed. The result? A dramatic turnaround that not only stabilised KTM but turned it into Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer by volume for several years running.
This latest boardroom reshuffle seems to reinforce Bajaj’s ongoing commitment to the brand, with Thapar’s nomination a clear signal of the Indian firm’s deepening integration within KTM’s operations. While Rajiv Bajaj’s departure from the board may raise some eyebrows, the appointment of his CFO in his place suggests a shift in strategic oversight rather than a step back.
For KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas fans, the hope is that these changes signal continued investment and product innovation, especially at a time when the industry is rapidly shifting and expanding in emerging markets. With the dust settling on the corporate chessboard, all eyes will now be on what direction Pierer Mobility takes next, and how much louder the Indian voice becomes in Austria’s motorcycling heartland.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
