Husqvarna minibikes on the way to Oz

Husqvarna obviously wanted to get the monkey of its back sooner rather than later.

At the launch of its 2010 model range in October, the company's chief financial officer, Thomas Moser, promised that Husqvarna would be a competitor in the lucrative minibike market within 12-15 months.

But it's happened sooner than that, and Husqvarna unveiled a CR50 two-stroke at the recent EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, which will go on sale locally in September next year. That will be followed two months later by a CR65. Pricing for the mini motocross scalpels will be announced closer to the release date.

Husqvarna also displated a SM50 supermoto bike in Milan, but there are no plans to bring it into Australia.

"The introduction of minibikes into the Husqvarna range is a perfect way of building brand loyalty," said Moser. "We have been trying to convince BMW of the benefits, and at the moment we are working hard on making it happen.

Husqvarna's European arch-rival, KTM, already has a minibike range, as do the Japanese marques. At the moment, 250cc is the smallest capacity Husqvarna, available in two-stroke (WR250) and four-stroke (TC250, TE250) configurations.