Munich. In the long term, the e-mountain bike manufacturer Rotwild has not been able to escape the crisis in the bicycle industry. While other companies massively expanded their capacities in the boom during the pandemic, the luxury brand planned cautiously in order to remain exclusive. But ultimately the premium manufacturer felt the consequences of overcapacity and price pressure.
The brand's sales, which were around 34 million euros at peak times, fell to 20 million euros in 2024. Last year things went up slightly. However, Rotwild's most important battery supplier filed for bankruptcy this year and deliveries failed to materialize. “It hit us hard too,” says founder Peter Schlitt.
And yet the bicycle enthusiast is convinced that the crisis also had a cleansing effect on the industry: “It is going back to the roots more strongly.” During the boom, financial investors and managers from outside the industry took over in many places, Schlitt tells the Handelsblatt. “There was too much greed in the industry.”
Now it's all about innovation again, especially in the high-end performance area that Rotwild serves. “Now you have to be creative again and offer customers something.” Rotwild wants to return to its previous success with newly developed, light and sporty e-bikes. “The horsepower craze with motocross in the forest will hopefully reach its limits,” says Schlitt, referring to bikes equipped with powerful electric motors.
The long-standing success story began in 1994 at a bike festival on Lake Garda. As research assistants at the Fraunhofer Institute, Peter Schlitt and Peter Böhm worked together to develop a so-called breakbooster for mountain bikes, a reinforcement part for rim brakes made of carbon. The idea met with great interest and two years later they founded the Rotwild brand.
The manufacturer remained consistent in production. “Thanks to German engineering and 100 percent final assembly in Germany, we can position ourselves as a brand Made in Germany,” says Schlitt. The brand did not rely on mass, but remained a premium manufacturer with wealthy customers. Comparable competitors include small manufacturers like Nicolai, but also premium brands like Specialized.
But the market changed. At the beginning of the pandemic there was a boom in sports equipment. For many, cycling alone outside was an opportunity to move freely while exercising. Hundreds of thousands ordered a new bike. But the manufacturers were missing parts because the supply chains were interrupted. When wheels and parts were available again, demand had already subsided. The result was overcrowded warehouses, price wars and bankruptcies.
Last year, sales of bicycles in Germany fell for the fifth time in a row to just 3.8 million. At the peak of the boom in 2020 there were 5.0 million. Hopes for a quick return to such numbers are slim.
Bicycle sales in Germany rose again by ten percent in the first half of the year. “The industry is stable and the market is moving again,” said Burkhard Stork, managing director of the industry association ZIV. But he also says: “Perhaps it is simply not possible to sell more than four million bicycles a year in Germany at the moment.”
In August, the bankruptcy of industry giant Accell with brands such as Ghost, Babboe and Haibike showed that the crisis was not yet over. In October, the traditional German manufacturer Boettcher also filed for bankruptcy. Shortly afterwards, the traditional Italian brand Bianchi applied for bankruptcy protection.
The insolvency of Syntace GmbH with the Liteville brand, which competes directly with Rotwild, showed that even the premium niche does not ensure survival in an industry crisis. The brand was at least able to continue under a new investor.
There are a number of reasons why you can still be confident about red deer. “We can endure this economically because we have always operated solidly and only worked with our own capital,” says Schlitt. It helped that we were broadly positioned. The parent company ADP Engineering, which Schlitt also founded, also develops for third parties - for automobile manufacturers as well as for other brands from the bike industry such as Kettler and Honda. ADP also produced a wheel for Porsche.
“The brand is healthy and sought after,” the entrepreneur is convinced. The niche in which deer operate continues to grow: “People want to differentiate themselves.” In other words: quality instead of quantity. Although Rotwild customers also care about money, they have higher purchasing power and the desire to always use the latest innovations. The middle price segment will have a harder time. “I don’t want to be in that price window at the moment.”
In addition, Rotwild's approach to developing sporty and lighter e-bikes is in keeping with the spirit of the times. At times the bikes had increasingly powerful motors and therefore larger batteries. The new engine generations could do a lot. But the performance boom is reaching regulatory limits or has already reached there.
A Rotwild e-bike should be as close as possible to a non-motorized bike in terms of handling, weight and appearance. "The next top versions of our models will weigh a maximum of 20 kg. This means that Rotwild is redefining this class."
This class has its price: “My goal is 10,000 bikes for an average of 10,000 euros each,” says Schlitt. In the best of times, the luxury brand sold around 7,500 bikes a year, currently it is closer to 5,000. A careful further expansion into neighboring European markets should also help with this expansion. “There is still a lot of potential, especially in Switzerland.”
