Dahon

Dahon was founded in 1982 as Hon California, Inc.. After presenting his invention to several established but uninterested companies, Hon and his brother Henry Hon decided to establish their own company from scratch. The two gathered venture funding and established their headquarters in Southern California while Hon relocated to Taiwan to build Dahon's first factory. Two years later, in 1984, Dahon folding bicycles were rolling off the assembly line as one of the most compact folding bicycle on the market at that time (many will argue the Brompton Bicycle is a more compact folder).

Production

Primary production takes place in the company's factory in Shenzhen, China. Another facility, near Beijing, produces Dahon bikes for China, an increasingly profitable market for the U.S.-based company.

Beginning in 2012, all Dahon brand bikes destined for Europe have been made in Bulgaria. In a strategic partnership with Maxcom Ltd., the company set up a production base at one of the facilities on the continent. All of their bikes for the European market are made at the facility in Plovdiv.

In 2025, DAHON formed an alliance with Golden Wheel Group to establish the new company Dagold Technology. A new factory was established in Tianjin, China, to support the production of e-bikes and other products in electric mobility.

Marketing

In 2012, Dahon launched its first global advertising campaign, incorporating a two-tiered marketing campaign specifically designed for both b2b and b2c markets. Dahon introduced the new tagline, "freedom unfolds". The new global campaign, themed "Express Your Personality" was launched at Eurobike 2011 in Friedrichshafen, Germany in a live-stage performance. In 2019, DAHON introduced the DAHON 360°Program, under which the company licensed its brand and proprietary technologies to other companies in the bicycle industry. In the 2020s, DAHON expanded its marketing focus beyond folding bicycles to include electric bicycles and broader mobility products. The company has promoted its patented technologies, including DELTECH, Super Downtube and the DAHON-V Tech Suite.

Controversy

Beginning in 2011, Dahon North America Inc. was in litigation with the son and wife of the company's founder. Specifically, the lawsuit charged that Joshua Hon and Florence Hon breached their fiduciary duties as officers of Dahon and unlawfully appropriated company assets, resources, and intellectual property to start the competing companies Mobility Holdings and Tern. As of March 2013, a settlement was reached on mutually acceptable and confidential terms and the matter is closed.