Initiating the sale of two of its brands that sell muscle bikes, the Pierer Mobility group will strengthen its GasGas and Husqvarna entities with electric bikes and even scooters.
Pierer Mobility may not mean anything to you, but it is nevertheless the owner of KTM, and incidentally other brands of motorized two-wheelers and electric bicycles. This Austrian group is beginning a radical shift at the dawn of 2024 with a major restructuring as a result.
Goodbye Felt and Raymon, for more electric bikes?
In addition to a relocation to India and China leading to the sad layoff of 300 people in Austria, Pierer announces the resale of two of its bicycle brands. In particular, it separates from the American entity Felt, which specializes in road, gravel and triathlon cycling, exclusively muscular.
Felt is now in the hands of a consortium led by a former KTM manager. More surprisingly, Pierer also got rid of the German firm R Raymon, sold to the couple Susann and Felix Puello who founded it in 2017. However, although owning many mechanical bikes, Raymon has a complete catalog of VAEs.
Despite one less entity in this category, the group wants to focus on the VAE sector in particular, in “withdrawing its non-electric bike division”. And Pierer will focus on its remaining premium brands in the “New Mobility” branch, GasGas and Husqvarna in this case, which will benefit from an investment in electric two-wheelers. This will concern the electric bike, just like the scooter and a new type of vehicle.
Husqvarna and GasGas electric scooters?
And yes, Pierer announces the upcoming arrival of electric scooters in his fold. Husqvarna was already in the electric bike business with city models, VTCs and VTTAEs, while GasGas is more focused on VTTAEs of all kinds, even fatbikes, in order to compete with brands like Super73 or Elwing.
Electric scooters coming from brands originally known for motorcycles are not a first. The Italians Aprilia and Ducati have already positioned themselves in this niche, as have… MV Agusta, which is part of the Pierer group. But the Rapido scooter was only a temporary project, very style-oriented and with an elite price, but with modest performance. We can’t wait to see the first models.