The manufacturer of the eSchwalbe electric scooter has filed for insolvency. The reason for the Munich-based company Govecs taking this step is the recent sharp decline in new registrations for electric mopeds in Europe, as the provisional insolvency administrator Michael Jaffé explains. He is now looking for investors. According to Jaffé, the fact that Govecs has exclusive rights to the traditional Schwalbe brand should help. The Schwalbe was a very popular vehicle in the GDR.
In Munich, Govecs, which generated sales of around 7 million euros in the current year, has just eight employees. Production is in Poland with 35 employees. An application for restructuring under Polish law has been filed there. Jaffé explained that they are already in contact with the local commissioner "in order to keep the operating structures saleable".
Govecs had focused on the European end customer market from 2022, as Managing Director Thomas Grübel explained. "Since then, however, new moped registrations in Europe have plummeted, both in the overall market and for electric mopeds. For us, this meant that we were unable to achieve the planned sales figures, which resulted in ongoing losses." The planned sales figures were also not achieved in the key market of Germany.
