KTM’s ATV-car concept gains Audi’s interest – April 24, 2006
Last December, Powersports Business reported KTM CEO Stefan Pierer intended to build a vehicle that blurred the line between automobile and ATV. It seems the idea has now expanded to be a full-fledged automobile.
Word is spreading that KTM and Audi are working together to develop a rear-wheel-drive sports coupe after Audi AG Chairman Martin Winterkorn recently acknowledged the project during a press conference as a concept that may be unveiled by 2007.
According to British car publication Auto Express, Winterkorn described KTM as “very interesting,” and said the two firms “will show something at the end of the year.”
“It would be a totally unique design, be lightweight and have high performance,” Pierer told Powersports Business in late 2005.
He said the imagined unit, which he personally named the Moto Super 7 as a working label, would boast approximately 200 hp and sell for between $29,000 and $40,000. He equated the typical buyer to those who would purchase a Caterham Seven or Lotus Exige, and described the unit as a pleasure vehicle designed mostly for a performance-minded enthusiast.
Pierer said a few hundred examples of the vehicle are expected to be delivered, with production beginning within 1.5 years of the concept’s debut.
“Like with KTM motorcycles, the design of such a machine would center around sport, pleasure,” Gerald Kiska, owner of Kiska design and the man responsible for the look of KTM motorcycles since 1992, said in December.
In further explaining Pierer’s vision, Kiska mentioned the 1,000-lb. Honda iVTEC-powered Atom from British firm Ariel.
Austrian coach-builder Magna Steyr is a leading choice as the builder for the new concept, according to a report by Austrian business newspaper Wirtshafts Blatt.
Ingolstadt, Germany-based Audi AG is a luxury division of Volkswagen AG. At the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, Audi parent Volkswagen revealed a three-wheeled unit, the GX3, developed with Lotus.
