Pon Holdings BV is a Dutch conglomerate in the transportation sector. It was founded in 1980 by Ben Pon, Jr., a former racing car driver and son of Ben Pon, Sr., who became the importer of Volkswagen in the Netherlands in 1947. it is still owned by the Pon family.
It is one of the five largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, and owns bicycle brands Caloi, Cannondale, Cervélo, Derby Cycle (owner of Focus), GT, Gazelle, IronHorse, Kalkhoff, Mongoose, Santa Cruz, Veloretti, and Schwinn, among others.
Activities
Automotive
Pon Holdings operates in the automotive and transport sectors through many subsidiaries, involved in activities, such as: Distribution of consumer automotive brands in the Netherlands: Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti and Porsche Distribution of commercial vehicles in the Netherlands: MAN, Caterpillar and Motrac Importer of Continental products Operator of several garages Owner of Reifen Gundlach, Summa Tyre and Euro-Tyre Car leasing, such as Dutchlease
Cycling
Pon owns Cervélo, Derby Cycle (owner of Focus Bikes), Dorel Sports (parent company of Cannondale, Schwinn, GT Bicycles, Mongoose, Caloi, and IronHorse), Gazelle, Kalkhoff, Union, Santa Cruz Bicycles (owner of Reserve Wheels), Swapfiets, Veloretti, and others.
History
1986: Takeover importership of SEAT
1988: Takeover of Transmark Groep, Motrac (Linde) 1992: Takeover importership of Škoda 1995: Founding of BelCompany in cooperation with Macintosh Retail Group 1998: Founding of Pon North America 2003: Takeover of Geveke N.V., Founding of Pon Equipment & Power Systems 2005: Founding of Pon Logistic Solutions, Shanghai, China 2011: Takeover of Gazelle 2011: Takeover importership of Cervélo. 2013: Acquisition of Callidus Group 2015: Takeover of Imtech Marine 2019: Acquisition of Urban Arrow 2021: Acquisition of Mike's Bikes (a 12 store San Francisco Bay Area bicycle retailer) 2021: Acquisition of Dorel Sports 2022: Takeover of Veloretti
Pre-dating Pon Holding
In 1895 Mijndert Pon, father of Ben Pon (senior) operated a vehicle repairshop. His sons Ben and Wijnand took ownership of the company. 1931: Founding of Pon's Automobielhandel (by then a chain of car dealerships) by Ben and his brother Wijnand Pon 1936: importership Continental AG and Federal 1947: importership Volkswagen 1948: importership Porsche