Continental closes e-bike drive division

Continental will close its e-bike motor business at the end of this year, “for economic reasons” and to “invest in other growth areas,” the company says. Service for pedelec drives already delivered is to be maintained until 2022.

The closure affects all Continentals’ electric bike systems, 48V Revolution, 48V Prime and 36V, and will take effect in the first quarter of 2020. However, given the statutory warranty and guarantee claims, a service team will remain under the Continental umbrella until 2022. According to a company spokesperson, “fewer than 100 employees of Continental Bicycle Systems and Continental Powertrain will be affected by the decision. Alternatives are being sought for them internally.”

There are speculations in various media as to whether the forthcoming transaction could be related to the latest annual report. It was only a few days ago that Continental reported a slight increase in sales for the third quarter of 2019, but at the same time had to report losses in net income of 1.99 billion euros. Officially, the e-bike drive division will be wound up as part of the global structural program “Transformation 2019-2029”.

Continental has been pushing ahead with an extensive restructuring of the corporation for some time now. In the automotive sector, the Hanover-based company spun off the drive division under the name Vitesco Technologies this year. It is headed by Andreas Wolf and combines the combustion business with hybrid and electric drives as well as all current battery activities.

sazbike.de (in German)