HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands - The appointment of the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Gijsbert van Zoeten is Accell Group's next step in an attempt to counter the financial challenges. The reorganization of the board of management was only communicated internally.

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - A huge increase in bicycle sales in China could not compensate for the weak demand of entry to mid-level products from both North America and Europe, reports Giant Group in its 2023 financial report. In this overview, the company reports an 16.4% decline in consolidated sales to TWD 76.95 billion (€ 2,23 billion).

WOKING, UK - The restart of VanMoof after the bankruptcy last summer had to come with a drastic change in strategy. VanMoof's new owner McLaren Applied subsidiary Lavoie, didn't give itself much time to study the best possible business model. Besides a revamped retail and service strategy, the company also restarted the supply chain of spare parts as well as the development of new components.

BERINGEN, Belgium - The Belgian Cycling Factory, owner of the brands Ridley and Eddy Merckx steps up its activity in the market with the appointment of industry veteran Eugene Fierkens. While Edward Vlutters returns back home. Fierkens will now take up the position of general manager strategy & business while Vlutters started as sales director in February.

BERLIN, Germany - Bicycle production and sales in Germany attained very high levels in 2023, comparable to the bicycle boom in 2020. Despite the generally negative consumer climate, sales value of bicycles and e-bikes combined in Germany only slightly decreased by 4% from €7.36 billion in 2022 to €7.06 billion last year.

ERKRATH, Germany - When e-bikes began to make a market entrance, global brand Giant determined that innovation in integrated in-house technologies would be the key to success. Since 2023 all R&D is carried out at the European headquarters in Lelystad, the Netherlands where a new development centre has been opened. Now, in-house service is an additional benefit to boost sales in saturated and fragmented European e-bike markets.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The leading topic for the Taiwan bicycle industry has become Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing. The industry joined forces in a coalition called the Bicycling Alliance for Sustainability (BAS). BAS representative and ESG Manager of Giant Group, Charlie Liu, explains the vision and strategy of this industry wide cooperation.

ANNECY, France - There is a new face at the helm of French component manufacturer Mavic. Having worked with Jean-Michel Bourrelier for more than five months, Alberto Morgando officially took over the position of managing director on 20 February.

台灣，台北－2024年台北國際自行車展備受矚目，可惜辜負眾望。台灣自行車零件製造商迫切期待訂單量增加，不過自行車品牌受到庫存影響而面臨龐大財務壓力。今年台北自行車展正如預期所料，無法為這些挑戰帶來緩解作用。

荷蘭，海倫芬（HEERENVEEN）－KKR旗下Accell Group的財務狀況變得更加艱鉅，一群貸方決定尋求顧問評估該公司在需求下降及營運困境中能有的選項。Accell同時面臨Babboe載貨自行車召回帶來的龐大開銷，海倫芬工廠也可能在同日面臨閉廠的命運。

英國，雷迪奇（REDDITCH）－Halfords Group於交易更新中宣布，其預測零售業務營收將同比大幅下降。該公司報告稱，其四大主要市場中（含自行車），有三個出現進一步顯著衰退。

瑞士，奧伯旺根（OBERWANGEN）－儘管歐洲市場整體呈現停滯或下降趨勢，高階電動自行車品牌Stromer和Desiknio的母公司myStromer AG卻逆勢而上，不斷擴大其在荷蘭和比利時市場的份額。該公司在具有挑戰性的美國電動自行車市場亦實現了雙位數（綜合）增長。

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The 2024 Taipei International Cycle Show will go in the history books as the edition of high hopes, but low expectations. The Taiwanese component manufacturers are eagerly waiting for more order volume while the bicycle brands are confronted with a huge financial burden due to the inventory issue. As expected, the 2024 Taipei Cycle Show did not bring any relief to these challenges.

HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands - The financial situation for KKR owned Accell Group is becoming increasingly challenging. A group of lenders decided to select advisers to assess options for the bicycle manufacturer amid struggles spurred by waning demand and operational hurdles. Accell is also facing an expensive recall of the Babboe cargobike and at the same time the union might shut down one of the Heerenveen factories later today.

In the competitive landscape of modern manufacturing, the quest for productivity and efficiency gains relevance. As factories strive to meet increasing demands while maintaining profitability, the role of efficient machines has never been more crucial.

VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain - Bicicletas Mendiz S.A. is one of several bicycle manufacturers from the Basque Country. It was founded by a former professional road racing cyclist. Since 2018 the niche brand has been in the hands of six Basque private investors. Thanks in part to a growing export business, the company has been able to double sales in recent years. However, the current annual production is still just 3,500 units.

SKI, Norway - reTyre claims to be the first manufacturer able to mass produce pneumatic tyres without rubber. "Our uniquely patented production method differs significantly from the existing production process that takes place today with vulcanised rubber," says Ben Evans, CCO of reTyre. In this interview he unlocks the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of vulcanised tyres massively.

REDDITCH, England - In a trading update Halfords Group announced to expect a significant drop in like-for-like revenue growth in its retail business. The company reports a further material weakening in three of its four core markets, including cycling.