adidas-Salomon announced the formation of Mavic-adidas Cycling to manage the Group’s road cycling and mountain biking activities in one operational unit.
Mavic designs and develops hard goods such as wheels, rims and other bicycle components. adidas Cycling produces soft goods i.e. cycling footwear, apparel and accessories. The new unit, Mavic-adidas Cycling, will be responsible for the design, marketing, sales and distribution of all Mavic and adidas Cycling products.
“The new organization will help us take advantage of new growth opportunities worldwide,” said adidas-Salomon CEO Herbert Hainer. “The expected benefits will come from three main areas – expanded distribution, greater focus on product creation and sports marketing synergies – which will lead to higher quality standards and increased profitability.”
The cycling market generates global sales of approximately EUR 5 billion. By creating this unit, Mavic-adidas Cycling aims to become a key player in this industry.
Mavic-adidas Cycling will be based at the Salomon headquarters in Annecy, France and will be run by Bernard Millaud (44), currently Managing Director of Mavic. The new unit will start operating in August 2003, with the first fully integrated Mavic-adidas Cycling soft goods product range to be launched in Spring/Summer 2005.
