e-Bikes Outstrip City Bike Sales in The Netherlands

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands – The city bike has always been the largest market segment in the Dutch market. But that leading position has come to an end with the continuing sale rise of e-Bikes.

Last May for the first time since the introduction of the electric bike the monthly turn-over on the Dutch market of this successful product has surpassed city bike sales. This major shift was announced by GfK Retail and Technology which is tracking bike sales at Dutch IBD’s since 1997.

City bikes in The Netherlands sell for an average retail price of € 650. For e-Bikes the average retail price at IBDs stands at € 2,000, making it a major contributor to the turn-over of the Dutch bicycle industry. Despite the economic down-turn e-Bike sale last May increased 45%! With that electric bikes jumped to a 37% market share in IBD turn-over, just as much as the city bike.

Main competitors of the e-Bike at Dutch dealers, City and Trekking bikes, were both confronted with declining sales. The City bike market share dropped 10% while the number of Trekking bikes sold went down 3%.

The latest GfK Retail and Technology statistics present a clear indication of the continuing growth of the popularity of e-Bikes among the Dutch. They are willing to pay more for this type of bike making the Dutch IBD’s very successful related to the overall decline in other retail markets.