According to reports in Europe’s moto media, CFMOTO and KTM are ending their distribution deal in the EU. Going forward, Pierer AG (KTM’s parent company) will not be responsible for distributing their Chinese partner’s motorcycles across the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Spain.

The reports say (read here and here) that, no surprise, the deal is breaking down as Pierer AG insiders decided it was time to focus on dealing with their own brands—KTM, along with Husqvarna and GasGas. They already ended their deal with MV Agusta months ago, ending their acquisition.

The deal will also end Pierer AG’s distribution of Zeeho electric motorcycles for CFMOTO.

According to the European write-ups, the KTM/CFMOTO deal for Euro distribution ends on May 31; from there, going forward, a new company will take over that line of work. CFMOTO may do the work itself, or work with another third-party outfit.

How will this impact customers? Motorrad says it might actually benefit some riders, as they say in Euro countries where Pierer AG ran distribution, customers couldn’t get the CFMOTO 450MT, a problem that didn’t exist in other countries where CFMOTO didn’t go through that channel. Otherwise, it’s hard to predict the future of the other cooperative ventures between CFMOTO and KTM. Those deals are still in place. It seems unlikely that CFMOTO will give up its business of building some models for KTM in China, or its distribution of those bikes in the Chinese market. CFMOTO actually owns a chunk of KTM through Pierer’s complicated corporate structure, so it’s very motivated to see the company survive. And also remember that thanks to its deal with Pierer AG, CFMOTO has access to KISKA’s designers, which has a strong visual impact on the brand.

In North America, CFMOTO is not distributed through KTM; the US and Canadian markets are reach managed by CFMOTO itself, in an arrangement that’s descended from their UTV/ATV business.