Automaker Mini will launch a range of electric bikes designed by connected bike brand Angell and produced in France by Seb, the French company told AFP on Thursday.
Angell won a tender to develop, manufacture and distribute a range of bicycles for five years in collaboration with the Mini teams.
The British brand, revived in the year 2000 by the BMW Group, is due to launch two new electric car models in 2023 and plans to be 100% electric by 2030. The first bikes will be designed based on the Angell, and manufactured as them in the Seb factory in Is-sur-Tille, north of Dijon (Côte d'Or).
They should be available from winter 2023/2024, and distributed on “
several networks
”, indicated the two brands.
At the launch of Angell in 2019, "
we hit the car quite hard, individual and thermal
", underlined its founder, the French entrepreneur Marc Simoncini, who had previously launched the Meetic dating site.
“
But from the moment the car becomes electric and less individual, we say to ourselves that the fight is won.
And the Mini is very urban, that's our core target and our expertise
,” continued Marc Simoncini.
The high-end brand also intends to grow by launching a new product every six months, starting with a helmet, then new bikes.
Read alsoThe rise of electric is boosting the bicycle market
"The myth of the universal bicycle will suffer"
With an electric bike market that has exploded since 2020, "
the myth of the universal bike will suffer, practices will become more mature
", explained John Mollanger, the director of Angell.
Like its competitors Cowboy and Vanmoof, it started with a first and only rather urban and light bike which sold 5,000 copies between its launch in 2020 and the launch in early 2022 of a second, more comfortable model.
For their part, industry histories like Cannondale or Specialized cover all sub-categories of the bike.
"
There is such a big gap that we can do something different
", while remaining in the category of urban bikes, wants to believe Mr. Mollanger.
The brand will also expand its distribution network, initially designed to be 100% direct: it will soon be distributed in around fifty stores in Europe, in particular so that customers can test the bikes.
Ultimately, Angell hopes to double its sales in 2023.
The price of the future Mini range has not been specified but the Angell bikes are offered at around 3000 euros.
Angell does not rule out the idea of a folding bike, which would fit in the trunk of a Mini.
