Airbag cycle helmet firm Hövding files for bankruptcy after consumer
watchdog orders product recall and bans sales

Company wins appeal against Sweden’s Consumer Agency – but says damage done
leaves it with no option other than closing down

by SIMON_MACMICHAEL
FRI, DEC 22, 2023 11:47

Hövding, the Swedish company that has won multiple awards for its
innovative airbag cycle helmet, has filed for bankruptcy after the
country’s consumer watchdog ordered a halt to sales as well as a product
recall of the latest version of the product.

In a statement published on its website (link is external), Hövding said
that the reason behind its decision to file for bankruptcy yesterday in the
Malmo district court was “that on November 1, 2023, the Swedish Consumer
Agency imposed a temporary sales freeze on the company and then on December
15, 2023 announced a permanent sales freeze and recall for the product
Hövding 3.”

The company said that it “does not share the Consumer Agency’s conclusion
and has appealed the decision,” and yesterday it won an appeal at the
Administrative Court that overturned the ban on sales and product recall,
meaning that the product can still be sold.

“However, the damage caused by the actions of the Swedish Consumer Agency
is so extensive that the board does not see that there is a basis for
continuing the company,” Hövding added.

Its statement concluded with Hövding thanking “all customers, dealers,
suppliers and, not least, employees for all the fantastic efforts during
the 12 years we have saved the lives of cyclists.”

Hövding’s airbag helmets are housed in a collar worn around the neck, with
the airbag rapidly deployed when motion sensors detected a fall, as shown
in this video featuring road.cc co-founder and editor in chief Tony
Farrelly (if you’re impatient, skip to just before the six-minute mark for
the money shot).

The innovative product has garnered an impressive amount of press coverage
over the years, but while the company’s website highlights testimonials
from cyclists who say that wearing a Hövding helmet saved them from serious
injury or worse in a collision, some of the biggest attention it has
received on social media has come when the airbag has inflated
accidentally, with one such example found here, although the company
insisted the product in that case was being used incorrectly.

<https://road.cc/content/news/airbag-cycle-helmet-firm-hovding-files-bankruptcy-305809>

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