History
KTM Duke 620, KTM's first stock supermoto bike
KTM 990 SuperDuke,
Circuit Carole
KTM 690 Duke OrangeThe company was founded in 1934 by
engineer Hans Trunkenpolz [1] in Mattighofen. It started out as a metalworking
shop and was named Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. It wasn't until 1953
that KTM began production of motorcycles. With just 20 employees, motorcycles were
built at the rate of three per day. In 1955, a businessman Ernst Kronreif became
shareholder of the company, on acquiring a sizable portion of the company.
It was then renamed Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. Trunkenpolz died unexpectedly
in 1989. During these early years of motocycle production at KTM, almost
all components for the motorcycles were built in-house by KTM.
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