this is already the 2nd in a month

A new electric bike manufacturer is leaving the French market. This time it is Swiss, and is called Flyer Bikes. In financial difficulty, the company is the second to withdraw from France in just a few weeks, after Rad Power Bikes.

There’s trouble in the air. VanMoof, Mate Bike, Gleam, Revonte, QWIC, Kiffy or even the Probikeshop and Bikester platforms: the electric bike and muscle bike sector has suffered considerably in recent months, like all these companies currently in bankruptcy or in prey deep financial difficulties.

In September, CssTricks addressed the case of Flyer Bikes, a Swiss manufacturer of high-end e-bikes – its catalog is largely made up of models priced at 3,000 euros and more – facing sharp drops in revenue. Consequences: the company would have prepared at the time a plan to lay off 80 people, out of a workforce of 300 employees.

The brand confirms its withdrawal from the French market

If no new information has since filtered out on a potential departure plan, the specialized media Green Bike for its part relayed another announcement: Flyer Bikes would have left the French market, after a restructuring of the company with a view to better preparing the financial future of the group.

CssTricks contacted Flyer Bikes to find out more about this. The Swiss firm has confirmed to us the information according to which the group has indeed left French territory. In the press release sent to the editorial staff, Flyer Bikes explains the reasons for this withdrawal after 5 years of activities with us.

The entire cycle industry is currently in a difficult situation. FLYER AG is also affected by the post-pandemic market correction. To cope with this, management developed a restructuring program to guarantee the future of the company.

In doing so, “the French market is also lastingly affected by the restructuring: the management and board of directors of FLYER AG have decided to stop sales in France and to close the sales organization. This inevitably leads to the dissolution of the French FLYER team, composed of two people“, we can read.

Flyer joins Rad Power Bikes

This is all driven by economic reasons, obviously. The company estimates that it will complete all the necessary procedures by the end of December 2023, “in order to best honor current commitments to FLYER AG customers and employees“.

We asked the brand who French customers should turn to in the event of technical problems with their electric bike. We are waiting for his response.

This divorce from the French market is the second in less than a month: in November, Rad Power Bikes also announced that it was leaving our market, and more broadly Europe. At issue: a product recall and the famous slowdown of the post-Covid bubble which affects almost all players in the sector.