News of KTM’s upgraded X-Bow appeared back in September, so we’re pleased to hear KTM are on target for its introduction in early 2011. The X-Bow has long been one of our favourite sports cars, but we’ve worried about its long-term viability given the high cost of producing its exotic carbon-fibre frame.
Earlier today, KTM published their financial performance for the fourth-quarter of the 2009/2010 business year with a net income of 11.3 million EUR against revenues of 459 million EUR, whilst positive cash flow in the period enabled debts to be reduced and liquidity reserves to be increased. This is positive news and bodes well for the X-Bow to remain with us for some time to come.
KTM’s CEO Stefan Pierer said, “Since we focused on our core business, off-road competition and on a competitive cost structure – with a slight increase in results, compared to the previous period – we found a fast and sustainable track with which to overcome the crisis. We are back in the front row and have exceeded all expectations for the fourth quarter results by far.”
KTM confirmed alongside these financial results that production of the X-Bow R would commence as planned, with orders commencing from spring 2011.
The X-Bow R is powered by the 2-litre turbocharged engine found in the Audi S3, with further changes to the engine electronics and peripheral devices boosting output up to 300-bhp. In addition, a considerably lower positioning and a modified mounting of the engine will lead to even higher cornering speeds and increased driving precision.
Two optional equipment packages will allow customisation of the X-BOW “R” to the customer’s specific requirements: The road legal and homologated “Sport” package; and the “Race” package, which is optimised for track day and racing use. The packages each include a vast number of completely new developed parts, which increase the performance of the car dramatically. Many of these parts will be also available separately in the PowerParts programme, so all current KTM X-BOW owners will enjoy the benefit of the new developments.
The prototype shown above is pictured at it’s first roll-out on the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife. As you can see the aerodynamic features alone make this new R model stand out from the crowd.
More detailed information, prices and pictures will be available at the beginning of 2011 together with some data on the X-Bow R’s Nürburgring lap time…
Written By
Steve Davies
Steve is an investor, private equity advisor and former Partner at KPMG, PwC and Bain. Most importantly he's a life-long car enthusiast, mountain biker and active sports enthusiast. He designs and builds technology platforms and is the architect behind Transmission.
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