Microlino AG close the legal dispute out of court and plan to start production in 2021

Microlino 2020

Good news from Microlino AG, the Swiss Company that created the Microlino, that announced to close Microlino 2020legal dispute out of court and start the production on 2021.

In the communication, Microlino AG said that they settled the disagreement with Artega/ TMI out-of-court and will go separate ways from now on.

As a consequence, the current development status does not meet the Microlino expectations in terms of driving behavior, quality and safety, and for this reason they need to further re-engineer the Microlino.

The production will start in 2021 with the Italian manufacturer CECOMP in Turin

Microlino 2020Plainly speaking, the disagreements costs a lot of time and energy. However, it gave to the company the chance to intensively test and analyze their current development status and 22 pre-series vehicles.

There were two options:

  1. To bring the Microlino to production as soon as possible in Spring / Summer 2020 with a new partner, but make big compromises in terms of driving behavior, quality and safety.

Or

  1. Finish the development in a way that customers will all be happy with the product even many years after the purchase, which would take a bit longer.

Microlino 2020Microlino AG decided to come to market a few months later, but with a product 100% tested. Although the Microlino is not a car, it is a vehicle, whose quality and safety should not be neglected. Because of that, they have decided to postpone the start of production to next year after having improved the vehicle according to their standards. To finish the engineering as soon as possible, Microlino AG have hired Peter Müller, who is a former BMW and Porsche executive, as a new technical director in September New production partner CECOMP

On their search to find an alternative production partner, they finally got in contact with CECOMP. CECOMP is a family company with more than 40 years of tradition in the automotive industry, specialized in prototype, small- and medium series production and was involved in the creation of icons such as the Lancia Microlino 2020Delta Integrale and the first VW Golf. In 2011 it brought to market the electric citycar “Bluecar”, which it has developed and produced in thousands of units. The Bluecar is used in many car sharing schemes around the world, most famously in Paris at “Autolib”. The company is run by the second generation and owns five factories in Europe.

What made CECOMP the ideal partner for Microlino AG was not only their experience in the production of electric vehicles and extensive production facilities but also their capabilities in the development of complete vehicles. On top, they are shareholder of Icona, the world’s biggest automotive design firm, with offices in Turin, Shanghai and LA.

We report at following the complete press release

Separation form TMI / Artega and new production start

  • Out-of-court settlement between Micro and Artega/TMI
  • To satisfy the expectations of Micro Mobility Systems in terms of driving performance, quality and safety, the production will start 2021
  • Production and development partner will be the Italian family company CECOMP, which has developed and produced the electric car “Bluecar”
  • More than 16’000 reservations for the Microlino until now

Zurich 3. January 2020. Already end of November 2019, Micro Mobility Systems and TMI/Artega settled their disputes out-of-court. From now on, both companies will go separate ways and stop working Microlino 2020together. Micro allows Artega to bring to market a cabin scooter based on the Microlino with the name “Karo” and Micro will bring its Microlino on the market independently.

We are happy that we have finally closed this chapter and can now fully focus on our vision of this new product category between motorbike and car – says Wim Ouboter, founder of the company and kickboard-pioneer.

The production start for the Microlino is scheduled for next year.

The intensive testing of our 22 pre-series cars has shown us, that the current development status does not Microlino 2020satisfy our expectations in terms of driving performance, quality and safety and we therefore need to change more things than initially expected – says Wim Ouboter.

In order to achieve this as quickly as possible, the company has appointed Peter Müller as their new CTO in September. Peter Müller is a former executive from BMW and Porsche and other companies in the automotive and motorbike industry. He will use his extensive experience in the automotive and motorbike segment, to get the Microlino series ready as soon as possible.

The Italian family company CECOMP was chosen as the new production and development partner. CECOMP was founded in 1978 by Giovanni Forneris and was involved as model- and prototype builder in Microlino 2020many iconic vehicles like the Lancia Delta Integrale and the Golf 1. In 2011, the company introduced the the “Bluecar” to market, for which it was the contract development and production company. The car was used in Bolloré’s “Autolib” Sharing, among other car sharing schemes around the world. The company is run by the second generation Gianluca and Paolo Forneris and has 5 production sites in Europe for prototypes, small and medium series vehicle production and aluminum body parts production. In addition, the company is a shareholder of the world’s biggest automotive design firm Icona, with offices in Turin, Los Angeles and Shanghai.

Currently, Micro has more than 16.000 reservations for the Microlino. Despite the delay and waiting times, Microlino 2020the company is optimistic:

In the end our customers will thank us that we made this hard decision to further improve the car before going to market. We are a Swiss family company with 20 years of tradition in urban mobility and are known worldwide for innovative products in high quality. We want to live up to this reputation with the Microlino as well – says Oliver Ouboter.

His brother Merlin adds:

The Microlino 2.0, how we call it internally, will be many times better than the current version. Massively better driving performance, improved ergonomics, better maintainability and also producible in high quantities. The patience will pay off, even though we can’t wait either to finally bring the Microlino into mass production.

Source: Micro Mobility Systems AG

2 Comments

    • Hi, thanks for your question. I will ask to the Microlino’s management and I hope that they will replay to your question.
      Best regards

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