Pierer Mobility announces intention to sell Felt Bicycles as part of increased focus on e-bikes

Pierer Mobility has announced that it will sell the Felt bicycle brand as it looks to focus even more strongly on the core powered two-wheelers business of motorcycles and e-bicycles.

The move will see the Austrian company concentrate on KTM, GasGas and Husqvarna as well as MVAgusta.

As a result of this decision, the board of directors initiated the sale of the Raymon and Felt brands and the divestment of the non-e-bike division.

The sale of the R Raymon brand has now been signed. The closing will take place by the end of 2023. The R Raymon bicycle brand, which was founded in 2017, will continue to be managed by Susanne and Felix Puello in a new, independent set-up.

In addition, the process of selling the Felt bicycle brand to a consortium led by Florian Burguet has also been initiated and is expected to be closed in the first half of 2024.

Burguet will step down from the management board of Pierer Mobility AG at the end of December.

Electric bicycles from the Husqvarna and GasGas brands are being promoted and expanded in order to further strengthen activities in the field of electromobility.

As of the 2024 financial year, the segment reporting will be newly structured.

In future, it will be reported in the segments “Motorcycles” and “E-Mobility”.

In addition to e-bicycles, the new “E-Mobility” segment will in future include all electrically powered two-wheelers such as e-motorcycles, e-minis and stand-up scooters.

The corresponding resolutions will be presented to the Supervisory Board at the next meeting.

Unfavourable economic conditions in Europe have also led to the decision to relocate parts of production for individual mid-range models and certain R&D activities to strategic partner Bajaj Auto, India, and CFMOTO, China.

Among other things, this is intended to utilise cost advantages in these regions and accelerate development and industrialisation processes.

This strategic decision is associated with a necessary reduction in staff of up to 300 employees at the Austrian locations in 2024.

Pierer expects the global economic environment to be difficult in the 2024 financial year.

For the Pierer Mobility Group, 2024 will be “a year of consolidation”, which will be used to strengthen the core business.

In order to secure the group’s profitability, the management will implement cost-cutting measures in the double-digit million range in the 2024 financial year.

The board of directors expects sales to remain almost unchanged and an EBIT margin of 5 % – 7 %.