TAIPEI, Taiwan (BRAIN)—Joshua Hon, former vice president of Dahon and son of co-founder and CEO Dr. David Hon, will separate from the brand and launch his own bike company next week in Taipei.
Steve Boyd, former COO of Dahon North America, has been consulting with Joshua Hon since he left Dahon last March and will continue working with Hon on the new venture.
Joshua Hon had worked with Dahon for nearly two decades and was the face of the brand in North America. Details of his new company will be released next week during a global launch in Taipei.
In light of the changes, Dahon has hired Henry Hon, the original co-founder of the folding bike brand and brother of Dr. Hon, to act as vice president of Dahon, the company announced this week at its annual international distributors conference in Zagreb, Croatia.
Dahon has also hired Eddie Eccleston as global sales and marketing director of the group, and Ken Fagut to fill the newly created position of director of sales and marketing in North America. Fagut has more than 25 years experience as an independent bicycle retailer, national sales manager and consultant.
At that meeting, Dr. Hon said the company would undergo a supply chain overhaul with all 2012 Dahon bikes for the European market produced in Bulgaria through a partnership with Maxcom Ltd. All European bikes will be made at the facility in Plovdiv.
Outside Europe, Dahon will continue production at its main factory in Shenzhen, China and has plans to build a new facility in Central China with a production capacity of 700,000 bikes. Another facility near Beijing manufactures Dahon bikes for the domestic Chinese market.
“We are excited about these developments as they will greatly improve quality and delivery times for all our markets in the short-term and secure our continued growth in light mobility in the long-term,” Dr Hon said in a press release.
Dahon also discussed its 2012 marketing strategy to the 60 distributors in attendance at the conference, including a new multi-channel marketing approach. The 2012 campaign, aimed at strengthening Dahon’s leading position, will feature above-the-line advertising, street level marketing in key markets, as well as na¬tional retail promotions and point-of-sale retail programs.
—Nicole Formosa
nformosa@bicycleretailer.com
