Phillips Cycles Ltd. was a British bicycle manufacturer based in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

near

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Its history began early in the 20th century and ended in the 1980s by which time it had become part of

Raleigh Industries The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle manufacturer based in Nottingham, England and founded by Woodhead and Angois in 1885. Using Raleigh as their brand name, it is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. After being acqui ...

, itself a part of the Tube Investments group. For a number of years, the company was the second-largest bicycle producer in Britain, after Raleigh. The company motto, which was carried on all its badges, was "Renowned the World Over". The "Phillips" brand is still used around the world, especially in China and the Far East, having been licensed by Raleigh. In India it was produced from Madras presently called Chennai.

Products

The company produced millions of bicycles, many of which were exported, and also manufactured several

mopeds A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typi ...

. These mopeds included the '

Panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...

' and ' Gadabout' models. The earliest of these machines (circa 1958 to 1962) were all produced in the United Kingdom except for the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

'Rex'

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

s but later models (Panda Mk 3 and Gadabout) were licensed versions of the Mobylette moped made by

Motobécane Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles, established in 1923. "Motobécane" is a compound of "moto", short for motorcycle; "bécane" is slang for "bike." Motobécane is a different ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Moped manufacturers Cycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Companies based in Smethwick {{cycle-manufacturer-stub