Urban electric firm Zeeho become the latest name to enter the UK via KTM owners Pierer Mobility Group

Austrian motorcycling conglomerate Pierer Mobility Group are expanding their portfolio yet again, agreeing to supply parts and distribution for fledgling electric mobility brand Zeeho across Europe from 2024.

Pierer already own KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas, plus WP Suspension, and a 50.1% slice of MV Agusta. Since 2023, they have taken care of European parts and distribution for Hangzhou brand CFMoto, who in turn produce the 790 Adventure and Duke models in their Chinese factories.

KTM 790 engines can also be found in the CFMoto 800NK and 800MT adventure range, with the brand taking care of KTM’s distribution in China since 2013.

Zeeho join the fold as a sub-brand of CFMoto, having sold more than 10,000 units domestically since they were established in China in 2020.

Like CFMoto, they will be available in the UK and Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain – coming to market with three sub-£5000 battery powered urban options: the AM licence £2899 City Sport, plus the A1 category £2899 AE6, and £4699 AE8 S+. All get a two-year warranty (not enough for them to qualify for UK electric grant incentives).

“I think one of the strong points that we have in the KTM Group is spare parts availability, a good customer service, and we are replicating our success factors for Zeeho as well as CFMoto,” Managing Director of CFMoto’s European distribution, Fabian Simmer told MCN.

Simmer previously worked at car brand Seat – part of the Volkswagen Group – for 14 years. There, he helped establish a centre for competence, exploring the future of electric urban mobility.

When asked by CEO Stefan Pierer whether he thought they should develop their own range of electric products, or partner with someone else, he recommended the Zeeho tie-up as the way forward.

“I told them the Zeeho products are top notch quality, the pricing is OK – obviously we had lots of discussions and negotiations with the Chinese team,” he explained.

“There was also an exchange where we asked them for the top 50 [most ordered Zeeho] parts based on the previous experience that they already had. So, this is what we ordered.

“If the customer needs a not-so recurring part, then we are able to organise an air shipment – so normally between four and seven days, the customer has the spare part in the dealer.”

Before the Pierer team can worry about parts availability, however, they need to successfully break into a heavily saturated market featuring low cost options from the likes of Honda and Yamaha, plus smaller emerging firms that are specialising in accessible swappable battery transport.

Further to this, the latest UK year-to-date electric bike sales figures from the Motorcycle Industry Association showed that A1 class models, less than or equal to 14.8bhp, were down by 24.7% by the end of February, when compared with last year.

Across February alone, sales were down by 56.9% compared with 2023 – representing a drop from 123 to just 53 new registrations.

“Your comment with regards UK customers still being a little bit reluctant to switch to electric urban mobility is 100% true,” Simmer acknowledged. “We are not blind and we’re not stupid to see that there is still some hesitation when it comes to buying such products.”

As of yet, no UK dealers have signed on the dotted line to sell Zeeho machinery but UK Dealer Network Manager, David Edwards says many are simply waiting to sample the product first.

“I think I’ve got nine or ten dealer enquiries to follow up,” he explained. “Some are CFMoto dealers, some are KTM dealers, and some have nothing to do with us, so a bit of a mix and I think mainly electric dealers.”

It’s a more positive picture in central Europe though, with Simmer confirming: “In Germany, we have the first six dealers ready to be invoiced.

“In Austria we have two, in Switzerland I believe we have one, and in Spain we have five in the pipeline. In the next few weeks we are going to put some pressure on our subsidiaries in the market in order to have the dealer network ready the sooner the better.”

Austrian electrics on the way?

Pierer Mobility Group are no strangers to collaboration with others for the production of new models. Chinese firm CFMoto produce the KTM 790 Duke and Adventure in Asia, and the smaller KTM 390 singles are produced in India by Bajaj Auto (the same people who make Triumph’s 400s).

It would make sense then for the group to borrow technology from Zeeho in order to produce a range of affordable urban options badged up as KTM, Husky, or GasGas – perhaps even MV Agustas!

MCN put this question to Managing Director of CFMoto’s European distribution, Fabian Simmer, who said: “There are discussions going on, on several platforms – internal combustion, or electric, but no concrete agreements have been made. 

“As you see on the 790 Duke and 790 Adventure, CFMoto use the engine for their 800 range, so it’s not something which is impossible. We do partnerships not only to be the distributors of their products.

“The partnerships – especially with CFMoto, with Bajaj – go beyond that,” he concluded.

The potential collaboration makes further sense when you look back to September 2021, when Husqvarna debuted three learner-friendly electric mobility concepts at the IAA Mobility Show in Munich.

The announcement included an E-Pilen motorcycle, and the Vektorr scooter. The E-Pilen was said to offer an 10.7bhp power output and a range of around 62 miles, with the Vektorr capable of a claimed 28mph and 59-mile range.

All of these attributes could likely be achieved with the hardware found on the incoming Zeehos. Whether anything will actually come of it remains to be seen.