Spin is withdrawing from Europe, laying off a quarter of the workers

Ford’s e-scooter company Spin has decided to restructure and leave some American cities and European countries where there are obviously too many scooters, which makes it difficult to make a profit. The move means the company will grow with a significant number of its employees.

In one Notice on Friday, Spin CEO Ben Bear said the company has begun abandoning almost all open license markets, or those where more companies are allowed to operate, to speed up e-scooters on their “path to profitability”. As a result, it began to shut down operations in Germany and Portugal and predicts it will withdraw from Spain as early as February. Bear said Spin will also leave several U.S. markets, but did not give details.

The CEO said that the markets in these areas “lack reasonable regulations,”Which in the end affect its ability to provide high quality services to drivers and cities.

“These places have market dynamics that allow a clear path to profitability to be established,” Bear said. “We have found that these markets, which are free for all, create an uncertain work environment – marked by frequent changes in the competitive environment, with no limit on the size of the fleet and a race for the lowest prices.”

Approximately 25% of Spin’s employees will be laid off in the company’s restructuring. They will be offered severance pay, an additional scholarship for relocation services, and will be able to keep laptops issued by the company.

Following the company’s restructuring, Spin will focus entirely on limited supplier markets, where cities or campuses select e-scooters that can work in an area through the bidding process. Bear said the company generates twice the revenue per vehicle in these markets compared to open licensing markets.

Over the last two years, Spin has made significant changes. It has shifted its focus to limited supplier markets, which now account for more than 75% of its portfolio, compared to 35%. In June last year, he removed the company’s co-founder, CEO, and put Bear at the helm. At the time, Bear said TechCrunch that Spin he employed “at full speed” and had “ambitious growth plans”. Those plans have obviously stopped for now.