KTM have upset another dealer.

Katy M

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So Holeshot in Salisbury have dumped KTM (and Kawasaki) and will no longer be a main dealer.
Apparently KTM got too pushy over sales and bikes.
 
So Holeshot in Salisbury have dumped KTM (and Kawasaki) and will no longer be a main dealer.
Apparently KTM got too pushy over sales and bikes.

If so, that's the height of irony. My local, friendly KTM dealer tells me that KTM have 'done their usual trick' of hyping up the new 890 SMT to create a demand.
However, they've only allocated one bike to each dealership and they're all sold out. He said if I want one for next year, I should put in my order now.
 
Seems odd. Crescent bailed out but because Yamaha gave them a wodge of cash to be only a Yamaha dealer.
I must say Holeshot we’re very poor for customer relations. £90 to plug my bike in to a diagnostic machine!!! Premier Bikes….£15. Holeshot wouldn’t price match.
 
If so, that's the height of irony. My local, friendly KTM dealer tells me that KTM have 'done their usual trick' of hyping up the new 890 SMT to create a demand.
However, they've only allocated one bike to each dealership and they're all sold out. He said if I want one for next year, I should put in my order now.

I'd have to disagree as I was recently at JD Racing to pick up some Motorex and I asked if the new SMT was in and if it was sold already. She said "No, we're expecting two in quite soon - we haven't taken any deposits yet as the interested buyers want to see it first".
 
From the Holeshot FB page today:

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Hello Everyone,

There's been a lot of hearsay about Holeshot in general and our dealings with KTM and Kawasaki as of late, so I wanted to clear things up and get the truth out in the open.

It is with great thought and stress that I make this statement. I would like to thank everybody at KTM Group & Kawasaki UK for the last 7 years, however due to current climate, Imports, my own and family health, we as Holeshot managers have made the decision as a collective to terminate our dealership with them.

Some main reasons for this are my own health and family time, at 38 years of age I feel I have achieved what I set out to do when I set Holeshot up nearly 14 years ago, however now that I have one of the biggest and most successful dealerships in the country, I have released it is not actually what I want anymore. I would like to spend more time with my family and not chase the coin as the saying goes, this also goes for my entire management team. They are all also still young and again have young families that they wish to see grow up.

Family is priority for me and whilst I really love dealing with KTM, Kawasaki and all customers, it is very time consuming, my daughters said to me on a recent holiday that I work too much and don't get to see them. I'm aware this is not a manufacturer or customer problem but hopefully you will all understand my position and reasoning for making this decision. I am now putting my family and friends first and will continue my path prior to being a main dealer with just used bikes only.

At this current time, I wish to just take some time out of the industry and spend time with my Family. The business is solvent, and my decision comes from a place of stress and personal issues.

My management team will continue to run Holeshot to the standards they always do, and by being just used bikes they can oversee their own destiny once again.

I'd like to thank everybody for allowing Holeshot to grow to what it is today and for hopefully respecting the hard decisions we have made.

Liam Ulett,

CEO of Holeshot Motocross
 
The above is good news to a point. At least KTM have not forced them off.
So much for rumour then.
 
I'd have to disagree as I was recently at JD Racing to pick up some Motorex and I asked if the new SMT was in and if it was sold already. She said "No, we're expecting two in quite soon - we haven't taken any deposits yet as the interested buyers want to see it first".

I've just been told the same. Having previously enquired about the SMT, I called my local, friendly KTM dealer just now to ask if he had a line on a Svartpilen 701 as I'm thinking of replacing my X-Country with one. In passing he mentioned that KTM have just released more 890 SMT.
 
Interesting to see / ride the SMT, and would never place a deposit on a bike I have not seen.

Nothing wrong with my current bike, on my <5k annual mileage I could get another 10 years service out of it, but too many times I have described a bike as a "keeper" - mist of sole a dozen "keepers" by now :)

Not sure why selling used bikes gives the guys at holeshot more time, still opening same hours I assume?

If I was making good "coin" from franchises but fed up of long hours I would just pay someone else to do some / all of my work and keep the coin coming in, sounds like the profits on new are not significant for them, perhaps throwing out all the new shiny bkes and demo's and filling the gaff with used is more profitable.

Premier always have a vast stock of used bikes, and I often see a lot of really nice used bike - then buy another new one anyway ;-)
 
Well, to be fair, you can see it went insolvent due to economic hardship. Not to erase the picture painted by Liam at Holeshot, but…

This documents a bit more than what he discloses.


See the first PDF under administrators taking over.


Scroll further through and it describes the situation quite clearly which doesn’t paint a picture of coin rolling in.

I had a couple of small parts on order, and they never arrived, not too fussed as the value wasn’t high, but I arrived home from working abroad and dropped in to pick up the parts only to find out they had closed shop.
 
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Well, to be fair, you can see it went insolvent due to economic hardship. Not to erase the picture painted by Liam at Holeshot, but…

This documents a bit more than what he discloses.


See the first PDF under administrators taking over.


Scroll further through and it describes the situation quite clearly which doesn’t paint a picture of coin rolling in.

I had a couple of small parts on order, and they never arrived, not too fussed as the value wasn’t high, but I arrived home from working abroad and dropped in to pick up the parts only to find out they had closed shop.
Access denied. JJH
 

Does this link work? You’ll need to go scroll down and go to the first pdf for administration.

If not, DM me and I’ll send some screenshots, but it’s really not that important. They’ve closed up, but I think by the evidence their reasoning is bogus.


Google “Holeshot Motorcross company house”

Click on the gov.uk link (should be first one)

Click filing history

Click statement of administrators proposal - view pdf (44 pages)
 
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I fail to understand why people dish up bs when the truth is so easy to find.
No axe to grind here, however the release should have been proofread before ‘realise’….
 
Interesting.

Good to see Liz Truss getting some well deserved blame.
 
So if I’m to understand the above posts Holeshot are gone bust but their saying their not? JJH
 
So if I’m to understand the above posts Holeshot are gone bust but their saying their not? JJH

If Begbies figures are anything like accurate, the company is horribly insolvent. As others say, why bother issuing that BS statement - ridiculous.

All I question is how ......... the warning signs were already writ large, the debt was at an unsustainable level, yet so many have been sucked in to continued support & investment. Surely KTM & Kawasaki would be expected to have a handle on stocking & sales turnover, so how did it ever go this far - it will be interesting to see how the Administration develops.
 
I was in the area a couple of weeks ago. Shop is shut and all stock gone too. Gates locked. Sad really.
 


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