KTM ends partnership with long-time design agency KISKA

KTM has officially ended its ownership relationship with KISKA, the Salzburg-based design agency that has shaped the brand’s visual identity since the late 1980s. The manufacturer has sold all its remaining shares in KISKA to technology company Loxone GmbH.

1. KTM has sold all remaining shares in KISKA to Loxone GmbH
2. It will establish its own in-house design centre in Salzburg

KTM to establish in-house design centre

The separation comes as part of Bajaj Auto’s restructuring efforts following its acquisition of KTM

For the uninitiated, KISKA has been the design agency instrumental in crafting the KTM brand we know today. The two began working together in the early 1990s, with KISKA contributing not only to product design and engineering but also to brand strategy, communication, apparel and experience design.

Over the last three decades, KISKA has worked on several notable projects beyond KTM, including zero-waste sporting goods for Adidas, the recent Beyond series of helmets from Cardo and the BSA Thunderbolt prototype showcased at EICMA 2025. Despite a long list of accomplishments and accolades in the design world, KTM has always been the firm’s largest client and investor, with Pierer Mobility AG holding up to 50 percent of KISKA’s shares at its peak.

However, with Bajaj acquiring Pierer Mobility AG and the restructuring that followed, the partnership in its current form will come to an end. Loxone GmbH will acquire the KTM Group’s shares in KISKA, bringing its stake to 71 percent, while the remaining 29 percent will be held by KISKA’s management and executive team.

KISKA managing director and co-owner Julian Herget was candid in his remarks about the agency’s reliance on KTM. “KISKA’s heavy reliance on KTM was unhealthy,” he said. The agency had been growing steadily, but “ultimately, the fact that KTM’s orders grew disproportionately quickly became a problem”. Following KTM’s bankruptcy proceedings, 42 employees were laid off at KISKA. “Without the bankruptcy, we would have operated in a secure environment despite the economic downturn,” Herget added. “Loxone is one of many important customers and an excellent partner, but we will never again become dependent on a single customer.”

KTM will now establish its own design centre in Salzburg, separate from its development facility in Mattighofen, to bring the design process more closely in-house. In the near term, little is likely to change in terms of KTM’s design language. New models take years to develop, and even as fresh products emerge, it is unlikely that KTM will stray far from the sharp, aggressive identity it has become known for, even if those designs are now being handled internally.