Market: 25 years of Flyer! E-bikes are trendy, every bike manufacturer has e-bikes in their portfolio. In the early days, pedelecs had a hard time and were often labeled as rehab bikes. It needed pioneers with visions ... they existed, for example in Switzerland, and that's how you can celebrate there now.
Digression into 25 years of flyer history
In the early 1990s, an Emmentaler named Philippe Kohlbrenner had the idea of motorizing his bicycle. The inventor calls the first working electric bike in Switzerland the “Red Buffalo”. In 1995, the “Flyer Classic” was the first small series of e-bikes to be launched on the Swiss market. With the now legendary C-Series, the high-quality e-bikes of the Flyer brand made a breakthrough in the early 2000s. The C-Series bikes were lighter than other previous models and the range was significantly longer.
The Flyer e-bikes from the Swiss Mittelland soon conquered Germany, the Benelux countries and Austria, followed later by Italy and France. 25 years after the birth of the Flyer brand, the e-bike is popular with young and old alike. New model series also play a part in this, so Flyer recognized the trend towards e-mountain bikes early on and positioned itself with the Uproc model series. Flyer AG looks back on the eventful company history, looks to the future with confidence and celebrates its birthday together with customers and partners - in the current times of the Corona crisis a little quieter than planned.
Swiss e-bike pioneer - always up to date
What began as a private project by an imaginative inventor has become a real success story over the years. According to Flyer, it has set itself the task of making the e-bike socially acceptable, based on the cornerstones of outstanding Swiss quality, innovative strength, attention to detail and timeless, elegant design. According to the flyer, customer needs are always the focus. Today, the e-bike is the growth driver in the entire bicycle industry, with sales figures continuing to rise in all important international markets. Flyer is definitely one of the top e-bike brands and will continue to assemble its premium e-bikes at the main location in the Swiss Mittelland in 2020. With the modernization and expansion of the assembly capacities at the company headquarters in Huttwil/Switzerland in 2018, the company is optimally positioned for further growth.
While just a few hundred Flyer e-bikes were sold in the early years, up to 6.000 Flyer e-bikes per month leave the factory in Huttwil today.
Today's leadership team looks back with appreciation and confidently ahead:
[testimonial cite=“Andreas Kessler/Ceo Flyer“]At Flyer, we have always believed in the success of the e-bike. We are proud that our company has helped shape the history of the e-bike in Europe. The company has always had competent and highly motivated employees who actively drove the development of our products, even in difficult times.[/testimonial]With the differentiation via its own technology platform "Fit“ and innovations such as the recently introduced sporty crossover e-bikes, Flyer would like to continue to be among the pioneers in the industry. E-bikes that are particularly popular with customers today are the versatile Flyer Upstreet5, the sporty e-mountain bikes from the Flyer Uproc series and the new Flyer Goroc models, which combine mountain bike genes with suitability for everyday use.
The Swiss Flyer AG develops and produces premium e-bikes under the Flyer brand. The e-bike pioneer wants to offer bikes for every need: from classic step-through bikes to city bikes and sporty e-mountain bikes. Around 230 employees work at the modern main location in the Swiss Mittelland, which is designed exclusively for electric bikes. Another 50 employees work in subsidiaries in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. This fits in with the sustainability maxim of the brand Minergie-P®-Standard plant in Huttwil is an attraction in itself: it is visited by around 10 people every year. Flyer is the market leader in Switzerland, but the export share is still well over 000%. The main markets are Germany and Benelux. In addition, Swiss e-bikes can also be found on the Austrian, French and Italian markets. So in 75 the brand is celebrating its 2020th anniversary.
25 years of Flyer: In the footsteps of the pioneers
Under the motto "In the footsteps of the pioneers", the focus in the anniversary year is primarily on the people who have shaped and continue to shape the past and future history of the brand. In the anniversary year, Flyer tells unique stories: From the start-up entrepreneurs around the inventor Philippe Kohlbrenner to the vision of the long-standing managing director Kurt Schär and his companions to the current management of Flyer AG.
The exciting stories are also part of the factory tour that was redesigned in the anniversary year, during which FLYER customers can get to know the company and the brand in an interactive way.
25 years flyer: New flyer site
Just in time for the anniversary, Flyyer presents a completely new website with a fresh look and added value for specialist retailers and end customers. From classic step-through bikes to city bikes and sporty e-mountain bikes, customers will find a bike to suit their taste in the current range from the Swiss e-bike manufacturer. Important innovations are the faster and clearer information about the Flyer range and the simplified arrangement of a test drive with a Flyer dealer directly via the website. So if you haven't ridden an e-bike before - or at least not a flyer - you can contact the dealer about it. Most bicycle dealers have opened their workshops despite Corona and a test bike handover is also possible if the safety recommendations are observed.
25 years flyer: Anniversary bike and competition
There will be an attractive anniversary competition for Flyer end consumers from early summer. Flyer customers can look forward to a special highlight for their 25th birthday. Even if chief developer Philipp Suter does not want to reveal any details here, "for the brand's birthday we developed an exclusive and limited Flyer anniversary bike, which we will present in early summer," says Suter. We are curious and will report about it.