SEATTLE (BRAIN) — Rad Power Bikes will close its European operations at the end of the year to concentrate on growing its North American market.
In a letter posted on the Rad Power Bikes European website on Monday, CEO Phil Molyneux said an in-depth business evaluation made it clear the move was necessary for long-term success.
Moyneux wrote "for now and the next several months, it is business as usual, and we are fully available to you for test rides, questions, and service needs as well as ample stock of our award-winning e-bikes available."
European service partners and an online help center will remain available. Rad Power operates an in-person service center in Utrecht, Netherlands, and also has test ride locations at bike shops in Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Dublin and other European cities.
"We are confident this change will allow us to set the standard for the e-bike revolution in North America and continue to have a laser focus on safety, reliability, and innovating to provide quality products for our customers," a Rad Power Bikes spokesperson told BRAIN on Monday.
Rad Power entered the European market in 2017 when it opened Rad Power Bikes Europe in the Netherlands.
In April, Rad Power Bikes laid off an undisclosed number of employees, its fourth round of workforce reductions in a year. A year earlier, Rad Power laid off 100 employees, and in July 2022, another 63. In December, an undisclosed number were let go.
Molyneux succeeded founder Mike Radenbaugh in November 2022 and not only has faced economic challenges but legal ones as well. Last August, a wrongful death suit was filed in Los Angeles by the parents of a girl who died when her friend was in control of a RadRunner model. That lawsuit asks for a jury trial that will determine damages, and says Rad Power Bikes markets e-bikes to children without adequate warnings.
In October, State Farm Fire & Casualty and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company jointly filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of an insured client for property damage after a Rad Power e-bike caught fire. Rad Power Bikes has denied that one of its e-bikes started the fire.
In May, a man filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court claiming his Rad Runner Plus e-bike caused him to fall and sustain injuries and property damage.
