It had been looming on the horizon and actually happened faster than expected: The once celebrated Dutch bicycle manufacturer Vanmoof, formerly the e-bike start-up financed with the highest level of credit in the world, has gone bankrupt. On Tuesday, it had to file for bankruptcy for the Dutch part of the company. A few days earlier, the Amsterdam judges had allowed Vanmoof two months for payment. Apparently, however, the situation at the e-bike manufacturer turned out to be more precarious than expected. The industry is shocked. “It's crazy that it happened so quickly,” says an industry expert in an interview with manager magazin.
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A Vanmoof bike is also a digital product to a large extent. Without the in-house app, which controls important functions such as unlocking the bike, and without access to the servers, the bike would be worthless. “If there is no more support from Vanmoof, if servers are shut down, nothing will work at all soon,’ says 60 year old Dirk Zedler from the institute for bicycle technology and safety (Institut für Fahrradtechnik und -Sicherheit). Secure software support is therefore the essential thing for the continued existence of the brand.
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Share of own products is too high
There is agreement among industry experts that a new start is necessary: Anyone taking over Vanmoof now, says one of them, would have to “start from scratch at product level”, rely on brands such as Bosch, Bafang or Mahle for the drive units and throw the strategy of proprietary parts overboard. “It’s only then that we can expect acceptance from retail partners.” Expert Zedler from the institute for bicycle technology is also convinced: The high share of self-designed products prevents any possibility of repair in specialist shops.
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Photo: Annette Riedl / dpa
