Pony bicycles not to make a comeback after all?

Two years ago, the comeback of the cult Pony cycles was accompanied by plenty of media hype, but it seems like it is now over.

BTC, one of the two partners on the project, has already given up on Pony, and Gorenje, which counted on making use of the popular former Yugoslavian brand for an electric engine bike, has allegedly found a purchaser for the company Gor Kolesa, but doesn't wish to disclose its name.

Gorenje founded Gor Kolesa with EUR 650,000, after it purchased the Rog brand, Finance reminds.

Gorenje had a 61.5% stake in the company, whereas 38.5% belonged to BTC. In late 2017, a capital increase needed to be made, which BTC didn't participate in, so the company is now 100% owned by Gorenje. Prior to this, the sale of Pony “with modern characteristics” in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia was planned.

However, not even the sales campaigns of large retailers such as Mercator and Tus helped, as many were suspicious due to the price of EUR 329 for the basic model, whereas the most expensive version cost as much as EUR 789. This is why the campaign proved unsuccessful, claim the sources of the Ljubljana-based daily, as there are many similar bikes at a considerably lower price in the market. Gorenje didn't even want to say how many Pony bicycles had been produced, Poslovni.hr reports.

They did admit, however, that they've given up on the announced deadlines, initially projected at three to four years, by which the company was supposed to start turning profit.

– It's not true that we will fully stop the production of Pony. It is still being carried out in limited amounts – Gorenje says, confirming the information about the sale of Gor Kolesa, which is in line with the company's strategic orientation toward focusing on its core activity, the production and the sale of house appliances.

BTC d.d. Ljubljana

Gorenje d.d. Velenje

Pony

BTC

Gorenje

Gor Kolesa

Rog

production of Pony bicycles

sale of Pony bicycles