Husky Going From Strength to Strength   11 Nov 2014

Husky Going From Strength to Strength

NOVEMBER 11, 2014: Husqvarna is going from strength to strength in this part of the world.

In the past it may have been a bike brand that featured only rarely on the podium at the race track, but, now married into the KTM family, Husqvarna is very often among the first bikes across the finish line.

And it has a support network that ensures this will remain so.

The rapidly-progressing Husqvarna brand certainly made its presence felt during its inaugural full race season in New Zealand last summer with Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont winning on debut with the TC250 model at the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville.

And that was just a foretaste of what was to come with Lamont then going on to win the New Zealand MX2 motocross crown in 2014.

Riders are now clamouring to get their hands on a Husqvarna motocross bike to contest the coming season and the company is rushing to fill orders, with a back-up system in place to make sure their campaigns will run like a well-oiled machine.

Following the acquisition of Husqvarna Motorcycles by KTM Motorrad AG in early 2013, there have been some obvious changes in the New Zealand distributor and dealer network.

Until December 2014, the previous distributor was still responsible for the back-up and parts supply of the Italian-built ‘red’ models while KTM NZ Ltd have been responsible for the Austrian-built ‘white’ range.

From December onwards, KTM NZ Ltd is the sole distributor for Husqvarna Motorcycles in New Zealand and is supplying parts for the older models via the new dealer network.

As New Zealand manager Patrick Stafford explains:

“Using the same systems already in place for our KTM operation, we are able to provide a scheduled fortnightly airfreight delivery direct from the factory in Austria.

“For urgent requirements we also offer our dealers an additional service of a UPS delivery at any time – these usually take just five days to arrive.

“As our parent company in Australia, Automotive Holdings Group, streamlines its operations for KTM and Husqvarna, we will be able to source Husqvarna parts from there, as we already do for KTM,” said Stafford.

“Given the much larger volumes of bikes sold in Australia compared with New Zealand (approximately 8 to 1), it follows that the distributors there can carry a wider range and volume of spare parts.

“We already offer a service to our KTM network to source available parts from Australia on a 2-to-3 day schedule and we envisage repeating this for Husqvarna.

“There may have been some perceived issues with parts supply for the older Italian built bikes, notably the BMW-powered road models, but the situation is not as bad as may have seemed and we believe we can start to improve the supply to complement the service already provided to the new range of bikes.

“While we started the new life of Husqvarna Motorcycles in NZ with a deliberately small number of dealers, recent revelations about future aims and models from the factory mean that we are now looking to expand our network and, ideally, would like to end up with 8 or 9 dealers spread across the country.

“After a dream start to the sports side at the beginning of the year, winning the New Zealand MX2 motocross title with Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont on the TC250, we hope to continue that success with Atiamuri’s Hadleigh Knight taking over Kayne’s seat in the MX2 class and Warkworth’s Hamish Dobbyn contesting the MX1 on the FC450 Husqvarna.

“We also have Pukekohe’s Kurtis Lilly, with assistance from our dealer Cyclespot, competing in the 125 class and may yet have one of our enduro riders, Auckland’s Liam Draper, try a bit of code swapping, competing in the 125 class.

“On the Enduro side, as well as Liam, we have Wellington multiple national moto trials champion Jake Whitaker on the FE250, with team manager Shaun Prescott, from Thames, on the TE250.

“And, out of left field, we have one of NZ’s FMX pioneers, Luke Price, displaying his skills once again and showing that an old dog can learn new tricks.

“We also work closely with our dealers to help a limited number of riders who show potential and these may well become our future fully supported riders.”

Internationally, Husqvarna have been enjoying great success in the hands of Britain’s Graham Jarvis at Extreme Enduros and Frenchman Pela Renet at Enduro, including his being outright winner at the recent International Six Days Enduro in Argentina.

With all of these factors in place, along with some great model developments and introductions over the next couple of years, these are exciting times for the all new Husqvarna Motorcycle range in New Zealand.

Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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