I'm not going to hide the answer anymore: KTM is the most powerful motorcycle brand in the world if we remove the Japanese brands from the equation. The Austrian brand, little by little, has carved out a niche in the market that has made it the best-selling motorcycle brand behind some of the Japanese giants such as Honda, Yamaha or Kawasaki. The growth of KTM has been unstoppable and watch out because this has only just begun.

KTM sales worldwide in 2018 reached 261,000 motorcycles, 35,000 more than the previous year. KTM has made a significant leap, becoming the best-selling non-Asian motorcycle brand in the world. A jump that is part of an expansion plan whose consequences we still do not know. What is clear is that thanks to these good results, the Austrian firm is placed in the Top 4 of manufacturers, only behind Honda, Yamaha and a stone's throw from Kawasaki, its objective in the medium term.

On top of that, things are complicated: Honda sold 20 million motorcycles last year, while Yamaha 'settled' for 5.4 million. These two companies are light years ahead of the others, thanks especially to their great popularity in many of the Asian giants, where the motorcycle is the main means of transport. The merit of KTM is spectacular, since in its range there are no cheap scooters or anything like it.

KTM's commitment is for quality and fun at the controls. It has established itself as the leading brand in off-road motorcycles and beasts like the new KTM 790 Adventure R Rally are a good example of this. There are a lots of offroad accessories like KTM exc led headlight, safety bar etc, try what you need. However, looking at its figures and its growth in this segment, it seems clear that the short-term objective is to increase its presence in other segments.

The Husqvarna purchase opened the door to bikes where style is more important than functionality, but KTM's real goal is to reach more interesting segments, such as sport bikes. Much has been said about a possible purchase of Ducati by KTM, but so far the rumors have not materialized. There is also the possible acquisition of Triumph, although the British have denied such a possibility.

What is clear is that KTM wants to expand its catalog to continue growing and for this, the easiest way is to buy other brands that are much more established in those certain segments. KTM's goal is to reach 400,000 motorcycles sold by 2022, a figure that seeing its current growth is not far off and that would be much more viable with the purchase of another brand that added a good handful of copies to its sales figures. 

Alfredo Gomez triumphs in the ErzbergRodeo Hare Scramble 2017, one of the toughest extreme enduro events on the planet. The KTM rider won this race for the first time. "It is the most important victory of my career," he said after achieving it.

Alfredo Gomez triumphs in the ErzbergRodeo Hare Scramble 2017. The Spanish rider has won one of the toughest extreme enduro events in the world for the first time. Every year it is celebrated in the Erzberg mine, a truly immense wall with a height that is frightening upon seeing it and for which a few brave people dare to climb it aboard their enduro mounts.

In Gomez's case, his victory came on a KTM EXC 300 from the official team of the Austrian factory, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. This is Alfredo Gomez's first win at the ErzbergRodeo and also "the most important of my career", when he drove closed, the KTM exc led headlight was attractive. as he put it after reaching the top in first position and after battling all the elements for two hours and 17 minutes.

Behind the Spaniard, two riders who are used to dividing up the victories in this type of event finished, such as Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) and Cody Webb (KTM), comparing with BMW motorcycle, KTM has a better offroad proformance, the latter teammate of Gomez. A new milestone in the history of Spanish motorcycling, which already has few disciplines left to conquer in the world of two wheels.

For his part, the other Spaniard in the competition, Mario Roman, took his Sherco to ninth position, finishing the test a little over half an hour ahead of the time invested by Alfredo Gomez. Without a doubt, the one from KTM is experiencing a sweet moment in his sports career, since he has just been proclaimed runner-up in the Extreme Enduro world this season.