KTM says it plans to cut production 25 percent this year compared to last year as sales for its off-road bikes continue to fall.

KTM motorcycle sales for the half-year ended Feb. 28 were €213.5 million ($279.8 million), down 25.9 percent from € 288.2 million during the same six-month period of the previous business year. Revenue fell 33.3 percent to €102.7 million ($134.6 million) in the Off-road Product Group; slumped 24.4 percent to €38.8 million ($50.8 million) in the Street Product Group; and decreased 13.2 percent to €54.1 million ($70.9 million) in the Related Product Group.

The company sold 5,452 sportminicycles during the first half of the year, up 595 units compared to the same six months in the previous year; 20,462 off-road motorcycles, down 12,271 units from the comparable period; and 5,252 street motorcycles, down 1,604 units from the comparable period. ATV sales totaled 696 units, down from 1,390 units in the comparable half-year period.

RESTRUCTURING
KTM this month completed the staff cuts and finalized plans for the capacity adjustments that it had announced in January. The OEM intends to produce about 70,000 motorcycles this business year, down 25 percent from production last year.

The OEM recently dismissed approximately 300 employees and, from May to August, plans to install shortened production shifts. The company says 733 of its 1,482 employees in Austria will be affected by the shortened shifts.