KTM X-Bow Production Looks Set To End

If you follow the world of those strange, two-wheeled half-car things known as ‘motorbikes’, you’ll likely be aware that Austrian bike maker KTM spent much of 2024 in financial strife. It teetered on the brink of bankruptcy before eventually being saved earlier this year by Indian company Bajaj.

That was good news for fans of fast orange motorbikes, but it appears it’s not such good news for people who like lightweight, flies-in-the-teeth track-day cars. That’s because CEO Gottfried Neumeister has hinted that production of KTM’s sole foray into four wheels, the X-Bow sports car, is set to end as part of the company’s plans to get back on its feet.

Speaking to Cycle World, Neumeister said: “We are far in the process of selling the X-Bow car. We sold 36 last year. Again, a super project, and we’ve proven what we are capable of and have one of the best engineers in the world. But the project does not help us to sell motorcycles.”

It’s not necessarily all bad news for the X-Bow, then. Neumeister says the company is ‘selling’ the car rather than ending production altogether, suggesting that the tooling is set to be bought up by another manufacturer so that the car might live on under a different name.

The X-Bow – pronounced ‘crossbow’ – launched in 2008 as a competitor to the likes of the Ariel Atom and the faster end of the Caterham range. Power came from a 2.0-litre turbocharged Audi four-cylinder, delivering 237bhp and 230lb ft in the standard car.

Over the years, various higher-performance road-legal versions emerged, as well as a slightly more refined GT derivative. These culminated in 2023’s X-Bow GT-XR, a coupe-bodied version featuring Audi’s 2.5-litre turbocharged inline-five turned up to 493bhp. There were several track-only and racing-homologated variants, too.

Now, though, as it appears to be the kind of niche product the bike maker can’t currently justify, it seems as though the X-Bow’s run out of arrows, at least in its current form. Hopefully, it’ll find a new manufacturer to keep production going – the world needs more slightly mad lightweight sports cars.