80 employees about to resign: Why is Bernese e-bike pioneer Flyer running out of steam?

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E-bike manufacturer Flyer had to put on the brakes. At the traditional company in Huttwil BE, 80 out of 300 employees face the threat of dismissal, the company confirmed to Blick. The e-bike pioneer has grown steadily in recent years and capitalized on real e-bike excitement. Especially during the Corona epidemic, the demand for electric pedals has peaked. And now the Flyer is running out of peacocks.

How can it get to this point? When asked why, Flyer resorts to generalizations. He talks about the difficult market situation around the world. There are no answers to certain questions. A number of flyer bike dealers and dealers explained this to Blick. Many wish to remain anonymous because they continue to rely on customer service and deliveries from flyers. According to them, Huttwiler’s sudden crash was at least partially self-inflicted.

Foreign competition as a reason?

According to insiders, it is not possible for Flyer models to be sold at all anymore. St. “We still have a lot of Flyer e-bikes on the sales counters,” says Bruno Pfiffner (63), managing director of Velo Pfiffner in St. Gallen. Daniel Gfeller (35) from veloGfeller in Köniz confirms: “The demand for hoverbikes is still high among our customers.”

According to industry experts, foreign competition and cheap e-bikes from China are not to blame for the Flyer’s collapse.

The truth is that the industry has allowed the euphoria during the coronavirus pandemic to get to it too much. “Dealers have placed a lot of orders in recent years. Many people assumed that the rise would last longer and now it is over,” says Philipp Thomet (51), president of Thomet Radsport in Aarberg BE. Sales figures will return to the pre-Corona level from 2015 to 2019. Swiss e-bike specialist M-way “The e-bike market is currently struggling with oversupply,” confirms Frank Aeschbacher (57), CEO of .

Too much stock and wasted potential

There was speculation on the Flyer. Those in charge assumed that demand would continue to grow at the same pace. But while the company increased production, sales and orders fell by half in two years. The result is overcrowded warehouses. Flyer is said to be on more than 10,000 e-bikes.

The company’s communication also draws criticism. Employees had long been unaware of the difficulties and were surprised by the decline in rental business for group trips during the summer months. Flyer closed the unprofitable division and cut the first jobs.

Communication with retailers was also sometimes poor. The industry struggled with delivery challenges during the pandemic. This also applied to flyers. “But we often didn’t know which models were actually available at Flyer. “If communication had been clearer, we would definitely have sold more flying bikes in the last three years,” says dealer Philipp Thomet.

German owners draw the red line

In 2017, the German two-wheeler purchasing cooperative (ZEG) acquired the Swiss company. There was a significant increase in international sales under the umbrella of ZEG. But now the German owner in Huttwil is turning a corner. Frankly, he’s not very sensitive about this issue. Still, industry insiders expect things to pick up again in the future following the drastic cutback at Flyer.

Source :Blick