BAD NEWS


Altaracer929

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It's rumored by unknown sources over the internet that Pierer Industrie AG of Austria has opened negotiations to purchase interest in Alta Motors.

Stefan Pierer CEO for Pierer Industrie AG (pictured below) Company spokesman said Mr Stefan Pierer is vacationing in Brisbane, Ca. and could not be reached for comment.



View attachment 1284

If this is not true, it's a great hoax.


Pierer Industrie AG ? Isn't that the company that bought Husqvarna from the Italians? WOW Alta Redshift will be owned by Husqvarna. Can't wait to get a 2019 Husqvarna EMXR. I always liked white over orange
 

Mark911

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It makes the most sense to be bought by a company with interest in Husky/KTM. Think of the cost breaks they'll get for such things as Wheels, Suspension, Brakes, Controls, most everything except the frame, powertrain, electronics, and of course the battery pack.

If so, I predict a "re-released" version of the current models but about another $3k cheaper.
 

Philip

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Pierer Industrie AG ? Isn't that the company that bought Husqvarna from the Italians? WOW Alta Redshift will be owned by Husqvarna. Can't wait to get a 2019 Husqvarna EMXR. I always liked white over orange
That's the company that owns KTM. And Husaberg. And Husqvarna.

They killed Husaberg, and folks are still mad at them for that.

Hope they do not rebadge Altas as KTMs and paint them orange.
 
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Fog 25

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This was posted on vital MX by altaracer929
If true he would be a great partner for Alta👍 Look what he’s done with Husqvarna.

It's rumored by unknown sources over the internet that Pierer Industrie AG of Austria has opened negotiations to purchase interest in Alta Motors.

Stefan Pierer CEO for Pierer Industrie AG (pictured below) Company spokesman said Mr Stefan Pierer is vacationing in Brisbane, Ca. and could not be reached for comment.
 

Altaracer929

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Hope they do not rebadge Altas as KTMs and paint them orange.

Paint it orange, white, red or any color the aftermarket makes Philip. 3 brands of EV bikes are better than one.

If Pierer Industrie AG is involved then 47% would be bajaj of India. The Redshift would be rebranded into Husqvarna, KTM, and Bajaj. Making 3 brands from one bike like they do with their ICE bikes. Having the KTM/Husqvarna brand names makes the new EV bike instantly available for sale to all their dealers world wide.

Almost all the Alta Dealers are Husqvarna / KTM dealers so it would be a smooth parts and supply issue. Instantly putting KTM/Husqvarna at the top of the EV off-road race bike world. It fits the Ready to Race & Pioneering since 1903 badges making 2 EV bike brands that can race against each other like they do with ICE bikes.

Opening a new EV racing class with Red Bull KTM Racing EV bike teams, Rockstar Racing Husqvarna EV bike teams racing Supercross moto's as a 5 laps EV race at Supercross races. Carrying through into the Summer National MX championship, MXGP already talked about a EV class, all racing between the Husqvarna & Ktm brands. If that's not marketing genius. Stefan Pierer would now leads the EV race bike market like they do in the ICE market.

Alta sold 1000 bikes in 9 months with 70 dealers USA, KTM/Husqvarna/Bajaj with thousands of dealers world wide, manufacturing in the USA, Austria, and India would reach historic future EV sales numbers in the electric bike future. The future of fast goes around the world even faster with 2 strong off-road EV brands.


this cyclenews dated 10/18/17 one year to the day Alta closed 10/18/18 freaky??
Stefan Pierer Outlines KTM’s Massive Electric Future - Cycle News
 

Butch

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Gad, I love the internets...
This was in some rag: "...the company stopped operating this morning, fired its staff, and may be looking for a buyer..."

The folks I know could be taking a well deserved vacation. Except Marc, of course. He would be working his ass off.
Reboot.
 

Rix

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It's rumored by unknown sources over the internet that Pierer Industrie AG of Austria has opened negotiations to purchase interest in Alta Motors.

Stefan Pierer CEO for Pierer Industrie AG (pictured below) Company spokesman said Mr Stefan Pierer is vacationing in Brisbane, Ca. and could not be reached for comment.



View attachment 1284

If this is not true, it's a great hoax.
One hell of a coincidence.
 

Rix

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That's the company that owns KTM. And Husaberg. And Husqvarna.

They killed Husaberg, and folks are still mad at them for that.

Hope they do not rebadge Altas as KTMs and paint them orange.
I'm with you, but as long as we can get the trademark replacement parts, motor/controller/battery/ stuff like that, I will mix blue green and orange with my white EXR to keep in running years down the road.
 

Philip

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Paint it orange, white, red or any color the aftermarket makes Philip. 3 brands of EV bikes are better than one.
I hope they do keep the Alta brand.

I only like orange in my food or drinks. I bought a Husky because it was not orange. Still hated the WP suspension, so the white color change did not make much of a difference after all... Thinking about it, I did not like the Alta's WP suspension either. With an acquisition by KTM we will be stuck with WP for the eternity.

But I agree, from the business standpoint, KTM has always looked like the best match. It would open a lot of doors for Alta, and/or electric motorcycles, which were previously closed.
 

snydes

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At the very least (and if the rumor is true) if they do not keep the Alta brand I hope they would rebadge the current models rather than start with an all new design so we would have that 10 year minimum of parts availability.
 

Zoom

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I suspect the actual Board of Directors decision to shut operations did effectively happen overnight. When an agreement with the second investment group was not reached this was one of the logical and typical business outcomes. It does not mean ALTA is gone. It means they needed to quit spending money at the full stream operations and marketing pace while they continue to aggressively work the finance and acquisition options.

Anyone who has been paying attention knew that the $$ from HD which was obtained during the Corporate Round of funding in March had likely been pulled due to HD’s financial problems. It was then obvious that a fast growing company like ALTA was actively looking for additional capital. I suspect that the dealers, the distributors, and the majority of the ALTA operations people had very little visibility to the status of these investor negotiations; likely little if any more than we did on this well-informed forum.

I don’t know who all of the Board members are, but I am reasonably certain that they as well as the existing Lead investors were weighing all of the consequences of this shut down before they made this decision and it was the best route among several difficult paths.

I have confidence that there are several viable paths forward for these bikes, this technology, and even ALTA as a brand. I think they will find a good route forward for the Future of Fast. Even if that doesn’t happen I am glad that I have my EXR and my only real concern is the software access. I will be riding this weekend and hoping for good news next week ! :ricky:


A lot of what you have stated is very close to what happened. As a Regional Sales Manager for Alta I can tell you that we had very good news reported to us on Monday. The news we got on Wednesday totally surprised us. If fact, I contacted several of my dealers Tuesday and then Wednesday morning to set up dealer visits for later in the week and the following week. We had no idea. I will also tell you this, as many of you know its an amazing product. Whats even more amazing is the team that Marc and company put together. I have several offers already and many irons in the fire, but it the band gets back together, I'm there in a heartbeat!
 

Miles Prower

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Considering that «Redshift» is a subtle pun on moving a little left of Orange, and that KTM was the benchmark the whole time that the Redshift line was under development, I wouldn't be surprised if a sale to Pierer Industrie AG was presented to the initial investors as a potential exit.

Regardless if that's true or not, if I were Stefan, or any other third-round investor looking to take control of a company that's running low on its operating funds, but has proven revenue and growth, I'd stretch out the negotiations until the company's cash accounts have dried up. When the company is on the verge of truly winding down, I'd buy a controlling share on terms that are extremely favorable to me, with far less pushback from the first and second–round investors.

On a related front, just last week, I was joking with a friend that was hanging out in my garage that my SM was "slowly shifting back to Orange" because of all the various orange farkles I had added to it (KTM sliders, orange bleeders, orange schrader caps, orange handguards, etc.), while lamenting that "Orange-shift" was just too hard to say.
 

snydes

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I'd bet that Stefan was the buyer that the negotiations fell through at the 11th hour and that right now things are just in limbo while everyone plays hardball.
 

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