New VanMoof owner to keep brand name, but many employees getting the axe
VanMoof’s new owner, the British step scooter manufacturer Lavoie, part of McLaren Applied, plans to keep the VanMoof brand going. The brand is still strong worldwide, and starting a brand from scratch is challenging, Nick Fry, CEO of McLaren Applied, told RTL Nieuws. But many VanMoof employees will lose their jobs.
“Starting a new brand from scratch is very difficult. And at VanMoof, they have done a fantastic job. Despite the problems, they still have a lot of fans. The brand is very popular; the bike can be seen in several design museums worldwide,” Fry told the broadcaster. “Of course, the name is a bit battered, there is no doubt about that, but hopefully, we can solve most of the problems over time. We are going to tackle it as best we can.”
“Van Moof is attractive for us because it is a really good brand and fundamentally a good product. Although there are some challenges,” Fry said. “The bikes have a fantastic design, and there are good ideas behind them.” He is confident that they can solve the issues with the bicycles. “But not in five minutes. It is a difficult job, and it will take us a few weeks.”
McLaren Applied plans to invest “tens of millions” into the VanMoof brand to get the finances back in order and organize the company in a way “that is also smart from an economic point of view,” Fry said. “We are also going to start with a small group of people, so we are going to start almost from scratch.”
That means that many VanMoof employees will have to look for other work. “I am almost certain that we will not have the same large number of employees as VanMoof because that is one of the reasons they went bankrupt. But I look forward to working with the people who remain. Once things go well, we can hire more people again,” Fry said.
