Lately, a number of automakers have been moving into electrical bicycles, recognizing these light-weight mobility gadgets as an integral a part of mobility of the long run. Certainly, one needn’t look far to see simply how briskly the e-bike trade is rising, as almost each singe bicycle model already has electrical bicycle choices.
That being mentioned, Volkswagen has simply introduced its entry into the e-bike market via its subsidiary Volkswagen Monetary Companies, and a partnership with Pon Holdings, a big mobility firm based mostly within the Netherlands. The plan is that the 2 corporations will collaborate to increase electrical bicycle leasing for each staff and business prospects in Europe and the US.
As a part of the deal, Volkswagen Monetary Companies acquired a 49-percent stake in Pon’s bike leasing enterprise Bike Mobility Companies (BMS). With operations in six nations consisting of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, and the US, BMS is seen as one of many greatest bike sharing companies within the trade. Extra particularly, the corporate offers bicycles to greater than 600,000 staff throughout 65,000 corporations. On high of that, 90-percent of all of the bikes on lease are electrical bicycles, that are delivered and serviced via the corporate’s community of 8,000 sellers.
Volkswagen Monetary Companies and Pon Mobility are eyeing the enlargement of BMS within the US market specifically. “BMS simply opened its first U.S. workplace in San Francisco and has already signed giant companies for firm bike leasing. Our current presence and retail relationships within the USA might help improve our partnership and our supply to U.S. staff, corporations, and retailers,” Pon Holdings CEO Janus Smalbraak informed Bicycle Retailer.
Each Volkswagen and Pon Holdings have fairly a prolonged historical past. In truth, the 2 corporations have been concerned again when the Volkswagen Bus hit the market almost eight a long time in the past. In truth, the ultimate manufacturing mannequin of the VW Bus was based mostly on a sketch made by Ben Pon Sr., the daddy of the corporate’s founder Ben Pon Jr. On high of that, Pon Holdings continues to be the most important importer for the Volkswagen Group within the Netherlands. Porsche additionally introduced a joint-venture with Pon surrounding the event of e-bikes and different micromobility ventures.