Bianchi Turkey Takes Over another Italian Bike Maker

MANISA, Turkey – Bianchi Bisiklet San. ve Tic. A.S. (also know as Bianchi Turkey) is expanding its activities on the Italian market in a big way. At this year’s Eurobike show the Turkish bike maker which acquired the renowned Italian brand Atala in 2005, relaunched a complete medium end range under this brand name.

In Friedrichshafen the company which is headed by President Ovadya Sarda( photo) also announced to have taken over another Italian bike manufacturer called Carraro srl Industria Cicli. This company is based in Padova, Italy. Like Atala also Carraro is a renowned name in the Italian bike scene. The company has a long history as it was established by Giovanni Carraro in 1924.

Carraro Cicli even entered the US market already before the second World War as it started to export bikes under the Winthrop and Clodia brand names in 1936. Ten years later Carraro debuted at the Milan EICMA show and has since then participated as an exhibitor at every single show.

In 1986 it started to produce Mountainbikes. Currently Carraro offers a large number of Mountainbikes in its range varying from hardtails to full suspension and from aluminium up to carbon and even with titanium frames. The same goes for the company’s road race range while Carraro Cicli also offers City & Trekking, Fitness and Sports as well as Kids bikes. They are all aimed at higher quality and price levels.

With adding Carraro Cicli to its portfolio, Bianchi Turkey wants to establish itself as a full line supplier for the about 2,000 Atala dealers it distributes to currently in Italy. Those dealers are now served only with the mid-end Atala brand.

Bianchi Bisiklet is expanding its offering to them not only with the hi-end brand Carraro, but also with its new Parts & Accessories range Byte. Moreno Fioravanti (ex-MD of Vuelta) has been appointed for the set-up and development of Bianchi Turkey’s Byte P&A range.