Rosie Burgin

HOOFDORP, the Netherlands - Citing "limited progress on addressing supply chain challenges, which has eroded liquidity headroom and led to deeply negative free cash flow (FCF) in 2023," the international credit rating agency Fitch has revised its outlook for bicycle manufacturer, Accell Group, downwards for the second time in months.

ORLÉANS, France - An e-bike that uses no rare earth materials… that is the concept of the Pi-Pop e-bike which uses a supercapacitor to store energy rather than rely on a standard battery pack. Being locally produced in France a third-generation design is now hitting the market with production expecting to 10-fold in 2024.

SVETA NEDELJA, Croatia - Porsche eBike Performance is currently looking at locations for its own e-bike motor factory in Europe, the company has confirmed to Bike Europe. Furthermore, in a turnaround from previous announcements, the high-tech brand Greyp Bikes will be discontinued and the technology absorbed into Porsche's other activities.

SHANGHAI, China - The 32nd edition of China Cycle will take place from 5-8 May at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre the organisers have announced. Hoping to entice back all international visitors and exhibitors to China, the event will have the theme 'New track, new power, new journey.'

MISANO, Italy - High-end Italian bike manufacturer Focarini debuted a new range of e-bikes equipped with the Askoll Ultra C90A engine at the Italian Bike Festival last week. 'Made in Italy' was a key reason for the partnership between the Italians as for both this represents 'quality and craftmanship'.

MUNICH, Germany - While organiser Messe Munich reports on the "resounding success" of this year's IAA Mobility, the integration of all mobility players made the scarcity of bicycle industry exhibitors more evident. Those who were there, however, spoke of a positive experience particularly in the cargo bike segment which is looking to take a bigger piece of the last mile pie.

KARLSTEIN AM MAIN, Germany - Organised by battery manufacturer BMZ, the Battery Expert Forum has become Europe's largest and most established networking platform for the global battery community. Taking place in November for the 18th time, it presents a top-class scientific conference with accompanying trade exhibition along the entire value chain of battery technology.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - "July was notably our best sales month ever and first profitable month," Cowboy co-founder and CEO Adrien Roose has announced. The Belgian D2C e-bike brand notes 'unit economics and discipline with costs' as key reasons for the milestone.

EDINBURGH, Scotland - Since displaying at Eurobike in 2021, Intra Drive has focused on building a European supply chain and industrialising its e-bike motor unit with multi speed gearbox. Now to support bringing its 8-speed integrated drive unit to market, the B2B company has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign.

MUNICH, Germany - Volkswagen Financial Services has acquired a 49% stake in Pon Holdings bike leasing subsidiary Bike Mobility Services (BMS). The partnership aims to focus on accelerating the expansion of bike leasing in Europe and the US. No details have been given on the purchasing price.