KTM have just set an ‘exorbitant’ asking price to sell the MotoGP team after meeting potential buyer

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Bajaj Auto has now completed its takeover of KTM’s parent company, PIERER Mobility, yet the acquisition has also raised more questions about the brand’s future in MotoGP.

PIERER Bajaj AG, which will soon be rebranded as Bajaj Auto International Holdings AG, now owns 74.9% of the shares in KTM’s parent company. The acquisition follows Bajaj investing a £674m lifeline in KTM in May, after PIERER Mobility entered self-administration in late 2024.

But while Bajaj saved KTM, questions persist over the future of the Austrian outfit’s MotoGP team. CEO Rajiv Bajaj recently revealed that Bajaj Auto wants to cut KTM’s costs by as much as 50%. And it is now said that he has not committed to continue funding the MotoGP team.

Bajaj Auto has set an £88m asking price to sell the KTM MotoGP team

According to GPOne, the lack of results that KTM achieved in the 2025 MotoGP season have left the team in an uncomfortable place, as Rajiv Bajaj has not announced whether Bajaj will continue to provide the €60m (£53m) required to maintain the brand’s motorsport program.

READ MORE: Everything to know about KTM from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy

Whispers even spread in the MotoGP paddock at the end of the 2025 campaign that Bajaj wants an ‘exorbitant’ €100m (£88m) to sell the KTM team. Bajaj’s price tag has raised a few eyebrows, as KTM finished P4 in the 2025 teams’ championship and P3 in the constructors’.

Also, KTM have not won a race in dry conditions since Miguel Oliveira won the 2021 Catalan Grand Prix. The Portuguese rider also won in the wet during the Grands Prix in Thailand and Indonesia in 2022, while Brad Binder won the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix in mixed conditions.

While Pedro Acosta finished fourth in the 2025 MotoGP riders’ championship during his first year with the works KTM team, partner Binder only managed P11 to match his career worst result from his rookie campaign in 2020. Binder also did not seal a single Grand Prix podium.

Yet Bajaj is now asking for €100m (£88m) to sell the MotoGP team after it hosted CFMoto at KTM’s factory in Munderfing. A 10-person delegation from the Chinese manufacturer is said to have met with representatives for KTM’s MotoGP team at their factory on November 11.

Bajaj does not have an agreement with CFMoto to sell the KTM MotoGP team, but it has put a price tag on the Austrian brand’s operations in the premier class of two-wheel motorsport. There have even been claims that Red Bull buying KTM’s MotoGP team cannot be ruled out.

MotoGP fans would welcome CFMoto or Red Bull buying KTM from Bajaj

Red Bull was linked with KTM’s MotoGP team earlier this year after PIERER Mobility entered self- administration. But the Austrian energy drink brand did not follow up its interest then, as it was said that Red Bull faced a £50-100m asking price to buy KTM before Bajaj’s bailout.

Now, Bajaj’s asking price to sell KTM is said to have been set at €100m (£88m), which might put parties such as Red Bull off pursuing a takeover. But it has not prevented some MotoGP fans from declaring their desire to see Red Bull buy KTM, but many are supporting CFMoto.

One fan reacted on Reddit to Bajaj setting a €100m (£88m) asking price for KTM by noting: “Why doesn’t Red Bull just buy them? €100-200m (£88-176m) is a drop in the water for it, and it already has the aero and manufacturing know-how from F1.”

Many MotoGP fans are backing CFMoto, who already operate in Moto2 and Moto3, to buy KTM from Bajaj, though. One fan noted: “Good! CFMoto can finally buy them and develop them further.” Another fan also shared: “It makes sense for them to do this at this point.”

One fan also said: “I suspect CFMoto will have announced their purchase by the end of the week. Fairly obvious they have big plans, and I’d like to see it to be honest. They’ve got their Moto2 team already and making big moves in Enduro, too.”

But while some fans suggested that “This is where CFMoto come in” and claimed that it is the Chinese manufacturer’s “time to shine” by buying KTM, other fans have also offered a few more left-field suggestions. One fan even said that Maverick Vinales should buy KTM.

Tech3 rider Vinales bought shares in KTM after he signed a two-year factory contract with the Austrian brand ahead of the 2025 MotoGP season. But Bajaj now putting KTM on the market has tempted one fan to question if this may finally be BMW’s route into MotoGP.

They noted: “Who would potentially buy KTM? BMW, Kawasaki and Suzuki have not been interested in joining/returning [to MotoGP]. But I wonder if buying an established project changes that? Especially since KTM are not exactly bottom of the barrel either.”