How An Industrial Design Firm Shaped KTM's Motorcycles

From irrelevance in the mid-'90s to Europe's best-selling brand to near collapse—KTM surfed high on the waves yet nearly succumbed to the troughs. But there's far more to the story than COVID-era overproduction and camshafts with substandard metallurgy. Industry watcher Michael Uhlarik takes us through KTM's backstory with a special emphasis on its unusually intimate relationship with Kiska, the industrial design firm who shaped the motorcycles, the messaging, and the meaning of the brand.