Husqvarna to wind down US SMX factory team after 2026

Husqvarna will end its in-house factory motocross and supercross racing operation in the United States at the conclusion of the 2026 SMX World Championship season, marking another notable shift in the post-restructure shape of the KTM Group.

The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing program will continue through the remainder of 2026, including this weekend’s AMA Supercross finale, the full Pro Motocross Championship and the SMX post-season. From 2027, however, Husqvarna will move away from operating its own full factory SMX team and instead support selected independent teams and riders with factory-level material and technical backing.

The centrepiece of that approach will be an engine leasing program in North America, with factory-spec engines and suspension components made available to selected teams and riders. It keeps Husqvarna visible in top-level US racing, but it is clearly not the same thing as funding and running a complete factory team structure.

That distinction matters because this is not an isolated move. It fits a broader pattern across the KTM Group as Bajaj Mobility, formerly Pierer Mobility AG, continues to reshape the business after the financial crisis that forced KTM AG into restructuring proceedings in late 2024.

The group has already reduced complexity across its racing and brand portfolio. GASGAS has withdrawn from running a factory team in the FIM Trial World Championship and Spanish Trial Championship from 2026, moving instead to privateer and team support. Husqvarna and GASGAS branding has also disappeared from Grand Prix road racing in recent seasons, with the group again concentrating its Moto2 and Moto3 development structure around KTM.

A home GP, a Friday Super Test win, two EnduroGP victories and two Enduro1 wins made Oliana a near-perfect weekend for Garcia and Red Bull KTM at the most recent EnduroGP round.

That leaves the “Ready To Race” message still very much alive, but increasingly centred on KTM as the spearhead brand.

The awkward part for the group is that KTM, Husqvarna, and GASGAS have all been used in recent years to sell very similar machinery to overlapping customer bases. On the showroom floor, the three-brand strategy has relied on styling, colour, heritage, price positioning, and dealer presentation to create differentiation across common platforms. That is not impossible, but it becomes harder when racing budgets tighten, and the group needs every euro spent in competition to have a clearer commercial purpose.

KTM’s role is the most obvious. It remains the company’s loudest and most valuable performance identity, particularly in motocross, rally and MotoGP. That does not mean every KTM race program is immune, but if the group is going to concentrate its most expensive factory racing activity behind one badge, orange is the obvious choice.

Pedro Acosta blasts out of a turn aboard the KTM RC16 during testing at Jerez late last month. The young Spaniard is set to ride for Ducati in 2027

MotoGP is the most interesting part of that equation. KTM has four bikes on the grid in 2026 across Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3, but the 2027 picture is less certain. The championship moves to new 850 cc regulations that year, Tech3 is under new ownership, and reports from Europe continue to suggest that its future manufacturer partner has not yet been locked in. KTM may well want four MotoGP bikes for development reasons, particularly under a new rulebook, but that does not automatically mean the budget or brand strategy will allow it.

Husqvarna’s future role may therefore become more selective and more aligned with its heritage. The brand has enormous credibility in enduro, hard enduro, and off-road competition more broadly, and it now also offers models across the travel, naked, supermoto, and electric segments. That gives Husqvarna a broader lifestyle and premium off-road identity than simply being a white KTM in motocross and supercross.

Billy Bolt threads his Husqvarna through the slick boulder garden last weekend at XL Lagares. Bolt has ruled the indoor and stadium hard enduro for Husky, while Mani Lettenbichler has put KTM front and centre in the forests and the mountains

In that sense, pulling back from a full in-house SMX team may be less a retreat from racing than a recognition that Husqvarna does not need to duplicate KTM everywhere. It may be more useful to the group as the brand that embodies enduro, adventure, and broader off-road authenticity, while KTM continues to be the sharp end of the spear in factory motocross, rally, and MotoGP.

GASGAS presents a different puzzle again. Its strongest historical identity is Spanish, trials-based, youthful and less corporate than KTM or Husqvarna. Yet the reduction of its factory trials program underlines how difficult it is to preserve that distinctiveness while also cutting costs. If GASGAS becomes mainly a privateer-supported, value-driven off-road brand, that could make sense commercially, but it also risks blunting the very character that made the name attractive in the first place.

Simon Laengenfelder currently leads the MX2 World Championship while Sacha Coenen makes it a KTM 1-2

This is the conundrum Bajaj Mobility and KTM Group management now have to solve. Running three closely related motorcycle brands gives the group reach, dealer-network flexibility and pricing options. Running three closely related racing identities is much harder to justify when the company has just come through a major financial restructuring and is now openly focused on efficiency, inventory discipline and profitable growth.

Lucas Coenen currently leads the MXGP World Championship on a KTM

KTM appears set to remain the company’s primary racing flag-bearer. Husqvarna may become more focussed around enduro, off-road heritage and premium adventure-style positioning. GASGAS may be pushed further toward supported privateer racing and a more accessible off-road identity.

The next few seasons should tell us a lot. KTM Group has to preserve the strength of three well-known brands while avoiding the cost and confusion of having them chase the same customers, the same race wins and the same marketing space. KTM looks likely to remain the pointy end of the racing spear, but where Husqvarna and GASGAS sit around that is still being redrawn. It is a difficult brand-management puzzle, and one that is clearly still evolving.