High Oil Prices Boost Bicycle Demand

HCM CITY, Vietnam (Aug 30) — Sky-rocketing global oil prices have increased the demand for bicycles in the Vietnamese market. Consumption of electrical bikes and bicycles in HCM City shops has doubled from last year, and many shops and foreign giant retailers like Metro and Big C have already run out of stock. Director of the Delta Company, a Vietnamese producer of electrical bikes, Vu Tien Hao said his firm which sold an average of 200 bikes every month, sold 400 bikes in just three weeks this month. Parents prefer to buy the reasonably priced electrical bikes, instead of costlier motorbikes for their children, he explained. Electrical bikes also benefited from rising domestic oil retail prices. Locally-made electrical bikes, including Delta, Thong Nhat, Five Star, Greenbike and Chinese products, cost about VND 3.4 - 4.8 million (US$ 215 - 304). Over the past week, though producers such as Delta, BMEC and Thong Nhat nearly doubled their productivity to meet the soaring demand, they have not decided to raise the prices of bikes. However, some businesses are planning to increase the price by the end of next month following rising transport costs, industry experts said. According to a company official, increasing the price at this time would create misunderstanding among customers as they may mistake it for abusing the situation.