If you weren’t aware Porsche made electric bicycles, we wouldn’t blame you. Despite being one of the biggest names in automotives, the German car company’s ebike exploits haven’t made a massive impact. And you're unlikely to see many of its bikes in the future.
That’s because the company announced today that it is discontinuing its Porsche eBike Performance subsidiary, alongside the Fazua ebike motor company, which it has owned since 2022.
Porsche eBike Performance will be discontinued following the planned sale of Porsche’s stake in Bugatti Rimac and the Rimac Group. Porsche will also discontinue its Cellforce Group battery and Cetitec software companies, and 500 employees will be affected by “planned job reductions”.
Although the ebike motor company Fazua has not put out a statement at the time of publishing, a Porsche spokesperson told BikeRadar: “Fazua customers and dealers will continue to have long-term access to spare parts and service. Further information will be announced shortly."
Dr. Michael Leiters, chairman of the executive board of Porsche, said: “We must refocus on our core business. This is the indispensable foundation for a successful strategic realignment. This forces us to make painful cuts – including our subsidiaries.”
Porsche says its electric bike activities will be discontinued due to “fundamentally changed market conditions for ebike drive systems”.
Porsche hasn’t specified what these “changed market conditions” are. But we know the European electric bicycle market has slowed in recent years.
Last year, trade publication Bike EU said ebike sales saw a “further cooling down” in 2024.
Across Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, the UK, Spain and Switzerland, the total number of electric bikes sold in 2023 dropped from roughly 4.2 million to 4 million. This drop came despite large-scale discounting and marketing efforts by brands and distributors, according to Bike EU.
Year-over-year sales in 2024 fell by -9.65% in the UK, -15.76% in France and -19.09% in Spain.
The ebike market has also seen disruption from the latest Avinox M2 and M2S motors, which have been adopted by many brands including YT Industries, which now specs the M2S alongside Fazua motors.
