KTM X-BOW will sell a US road version of its carbon-tub track car, the GT-XA, through Carbon Yard: 30 numbered cars in year one at about $490,000, with 2027 deliveries targeted. The catch is that it isn't approved for US roads yet. Here's what you get, what it competes with, and what to check before putting down $50,000.
For almost two decades the KTM X-BOW has been the carbon-fiber track car Americans could look at but not register. That may be about to change. On Oct 27, 2026, KTM X-BOW announced the GT-XA, a road version built for the US and sold through its exclusive American partner, Carbon Yard (AutoGuide, duPont Registry).
The first year is limited to 30 hand-built, numbered cars. A fully refundable $50,000 reservation holds a slot, buyers pick their build number in reservation order, and deliveries are targeted for 2027. The price is expected to be about $490,000. The catch is in the fine print: the GT-XA doesn't have US street-legal approval yet, and both the deliveries and the final price depend on getting it (AutoGuide).
The GT-XA is the American version of the X-BOW GT-XR, the hard-top road car KTM launched in Europe in 2022. That car has a carbon-fiber monocoque, no doors and an electric "jet fighter" canopy that lifts forward to let you in. It uses the Audi RS3's turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder, a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and a mechanical limited-slip differential. KTM rated it at 493 hp and 1,130 kg, about 2,490 lb, and sold it in Europe under small-series approval (KTM, Car and Driver).
The planned US specification adds a track suspension package with adjustable compression and rebound damping, a front-axle lift for driveways and parking garages, tire-pressure monitoring and a bespoke trim program. Every car is built by hand in Graz, Austria, and owners get factory visits and driving days at the Red Bull Ring (AutoGuide, duPont Registry). What hasn't been announced is a power figure, a weight or a final price. AutoGuide says final MSRP and technical details are still to come.
The US news came alongside the first updates to the X-BOW since KTM sold the car business. The headline is more power. A Factory 600 package adds a revised intake manifold, a bigger turbo and a new intercooler, lifting the five-cylinder from 493 to 592 hp, a gain of 99 hp. Top Gear puts torque at 502 lb-ft, up from 429. An EVO aero kit taken from the GT2 race car adds a sharper front splitter, canards and louvers in the fenders. Top Gear reports the two combined as a new model called the GT-XR EVO, while The Supercar Blog and Autocar describe them as packages (Top Gear, The Supercar Blog, Autocar).
There's also a GT-XR Spyder with removable roof panels that stow in the luggage compartment. Every X-BOW now gets a 7-inch center screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which can also show lap times, g-forces and temperatures on track. Folding carbon side mirrors are now standard, and the camera mirror system becomes an option. A new ICONIX program covers custom paint, materials and personalized plaques (Top Gear, Zero2Turbo).
Reports disagree on one detail. Top Gear and Italy's Motorbox say the new Capristo exhaust is standard on every X-BOW, while Autocar and Zero2Turbo describe it as an option (Motorbox, Autocar). It's also not yet clear which of these updates the US GT-XA will get, including whether it comes with the 592 hp engine.
KTM's motorcycle parent ran into financial trouble and sold the car business to a Belgian investment group led by rally-raid driver Guillaume de Mévius, whose family is among the founding families of brewer AB InBev. Top Gear dates the announcement to August 2025, and Zero2Turbo says the deal closed in October 2025. The company now trades as KTM X-BOW Onroad GmbH. It keeps production in Graz and licenses the X-BOW name, and CEO Michael Wölfling still runs operations (Top Gear, Zero2Turbo, AutoGuide). The US push is the clearest sign yet of the new owners' plan: a bigger market, more personalization and a richer product mix.
It isn't KTM's first try at America. In 2018 it brought the X-BOW Comp R to the US as a track-only car that couldn't be registered for the street, sold through two racing shops (KTM North America). The GT-XA is the first X-BOW pitched for American roads.
Neither KTM X-BOW nor Carbon Yard has said how they plan to get the GT-XA approved. In general, a new car can only be sold for US road use if it's certified to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and meets EPA emissions rules. Small makers have two ways around full certification. NHTSA's Part 555 lets a manufacturer that built no more than 10,000 vehicles in the prior year apply, on economic-hardship grounds, for a temporary exemption from specific standards for up to three years (eCFR, 49 CFR Part 555). The Show or Display route is for individual imports of rare, significant cars, generally fewer than 500 built, and caps road use at 2,500 miles a year (NHTSA). Any of these takes time, and the result can affect how you can use the car and what it's worth later.
$490,000 is a lot for a car with a five-cylinder engine, and well above what the GT-XR has cost in Europe. KTM listed it from €319,200 before taxes in 2024 (KTM). Some of that gap likely reflects the cost of bringing a 30-car run to America and getting it approved. What the money buys is something no US showroom has: a doorless, carbon-tub race car with plates, built in tiny numbers.
For comparison, here's what the same money gets you in the US and Canada today. A 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS has a median asking price of $502,936 (108 cars for sale), and a Lamborghini Huracán STO has a median of $529,996 (54 cars), from our listings data on Oct 27, 2026. These are asking prices, not sale prices. The GT3 RS makes 518 hp and weighs about 3,270 lb (Porsche). Even the standard 493 hp GT-XR carries less weight per horsepower, and the 592 hp version would be well ahead. But the Porsche and the Lamborghini come with dealer networks, full federal approval and a deep resale market. The X-BOW has none of that yet.
Our view: this is a car for buyers who already have a GT3 RS and want something rarer and more raw for track days and weekend drives. It's a strong idea, but the deal only makes sense once Carbon Yard says how the car will be approved.
The next milestones are a final US price and specification, Carbon Yard's approval path and timing, and whether the GT-XA gets the 592 hp engine and the Spyder roof. We'll update this story as those details come out.