Some 3,700 people are employed by KTM AG in Austria. The reduction in domestic production will certainly also lead to further job losses. – Photo KTM AG

Pierer Mobility restructures KTM AG amid multi-million financial...

WELS, Austria - Pierer Mobility AG, the owner of bicycle and e-bike brands Husqvarna, GasGas and Felt has announced that it will apply for debtor-in-possession restructuring proceedings for its motorcycle subsidiary KTM AG on Friday. KTM AG's financing requirements are "currently in the high three-digit million euro range."

Working step by step to reduce the slump in production and revenue caused by the 2023 insolvencies of two major customers, and the associated losses: Taiwan's Taichung-based bike manufacturer Ideal Bike Corporation. – Photo Jo Beckendorff

Ideal Bike on successful loss reduction course despite revenue drop

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Even though the first three sales quarter revenue of NT$1.91 billion (€55.66 million) was 32.5% lower than in the same period of the previous year, Taiwan's bicycle manufacturer Ideal Bike Corporation has been able to reduce its loss by 34.4%. The crisis at Taiwan's third largest bicycle producer is still rooted in the 2023 insolvencies of two of its major customers Advanced Sports GmbH and VanMoof.

The German hammerman strikes: Huttwil will definitely soon be ‘flyered out’ at the expense of over 100 hundred jobs. Photo Peter Hummel

The end for Flyer in Huttwil: Swiss-made is definitely over

HUTTWIL, Switzerland - The closure of production at Flyer in Huttwil is now a sad certainty. Following the conclusion of the consultation process, CEO Andy Kessler announced yesterday that at least 150 employees will soon be made redundant. The media only learned of this unfortunate pre-Christmas news via dealers and employees; owner ZEG has not disclosed any information.

The financial situation for Bafang has not improved compared with 2023. – Photo Bike Europe

Bafang sales performance not recovering in over supplied market

SUZHOU, China - The oversupply in the industry, even for the category e-bikes, is still resulting in a slowdown in demand for component manufacturers. The excess inventory situation was already reflected at Taichung Bike Week last September but also came forward in Bafang's nine months earnings result which did not improve compared with 2023.

Taiwan’s second largest bicycle manufacturer Merida’s Headquarters in based in Dacun Township in Changhua County. – Photo Merida

Merida revenue recovers but profit lags behind

CHANGHUA, Taiwan - In the first three sales quarters of the current 2024 financial year Taiwan's second-largest bicycle manufacturer Merida Industry Co. Ltd. generated total revenue of TWD 23.8 billion (€695 million). Compared to the first nine months of the previous year, this is a good increase of 5.8% in a persistently difficult and challenging environment.

hGears manufactures high precision parts and components and has counted Bosch, Oli e-bike systems, ProscheEP and Valeo as clients in the E-bike segment. – Photo Bike Europe

hGears' e-bike business segment suffers from sluggish destocking

SCHAMBERG, Germany - High-precision transmission parts and components manufacturer hGears AG continues to suffer not only from the automotive crisis, but also from the e-bike business segment's sluggish destocking. In the first nine months of the current 2024 financial year, it had to digest its biggest sales drop.

E-bike adoption in the US has been slow, particularly for commuter use. – Photo Shutterstock

Can US e-bike sales reach 50% market share by 2030?

FRANKFURT, Germany - The fact that the US e-bike market is lagging behind European counterparts is well-known within the industry. A forecast based on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% over the next 7 years could see the US e-bike market reach 6.7 million units and match regular bicycle sales in 2030. This data presented at Eurobike by eCycleElectric however, represented the most optimistic scenario.

Due to the lack of any financial incentive, urban cycling is not a common sight in Spain. – Photo Bike Europe

Spanish bicycle market drops for the second year in a row

MADRID, Spain - The mismatch between supply and demand has hit the Spanish bicycle industry very hard. Significant stockpiling has been taking place at both distributors and stores. This situation has not been balanced out yet as the 2023 market statistics show. Still, the Spanish industry association AMBE who presented the market data is still confident about the future market. AMBE also noted that 2024 will still be a difficult year for the industry.

Shipments of e-bikes to the EU-27 rose by 2.5% in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023, the latest Eurostat data shows. – Photo Shutterstock

Freefall ends as EU-27 e-bike imports stabilise

ZEIST, the Netherlands - With key markets reporting double-digit sales drops, inventories sky-high and heavy discounting attempting to rid the industry of burdening overstock, e-bike and bicycle imports into the EU nose-dived throughout 2023. With the first quarter of 2024 import data now available from Eurostat, a picture can be drawn of how this year's market might unfold… and there is a glimmer of hope.

In total domestic bicycle and e-bike sales amounted to 5.08 million units in 2023 and may fall under 5 million units in 2024 if the drop in sales continues. – Photo Jo Beckendorff

Japanese bike market struggling to get out of slump

TOKYO, Japan - While the corona pandemic caused a veritable bicycle and e-bike boom in the west, this sales boom completely bypassed Japan. The current sales slump therefore isn't based on a sharp drop from new sales records as in the west. For years the bicycle market in the Land of the Rising Sun has been shifting in low gear. The local market slump continued in 2023 and a reversal is not expected in the current year either.

The current market situation in combination with full warehouses stood as the basis for the financial problems at Advanced Bike. – Photo Advanced Bikes

Advanced Bikes files for insolvency proceedings

OFFENBACH, Germany - Rumours had been swirling recently that another Germany e-bike manufacturer was facing financial problems, and this was confirmed yesterday when Advanced Bikes GmbH officially filed for insolvency. This insolvency reflects the problems the European industry is currently facing.

“Order placement by both retailers and OEM customers remain much conservative, hence affecting sales recovery,” reports Giant Group. – Photo Bike Europe

Giant Group sales recovery taking longer than expected

TAICHUNG, Taiwan - Mid 2024 Giant Group's sales trend seemed to have found a way up again, but this turned out to be only a short-lived revival. In July, Giant still expected operations to improve gradually, but the financial report published yesterday of the Q1-3 results show that a full recovery takes longer than expected.

In recent years, Stella had already been forced to close some of its stores and reduce its workforce at the headquarters in the Netherlands.  – Photo Stella

Dutch e-bike brand Stella forced to delay payments as losses mount

NUNSPEET, The Netherlands - Once claiming to be market leader in the Netherlands, e-bike brand Stella is on the verge of bankruptcy. Despite repeated financial injections from its owner DMEP, the manufacturer has now filed for a payment extension. According to DMEP, Stella can no longer achieve sustainable profitability in its current form and requires a "substantial" capital injection.

The support of key stakeholders and creditors comes at an important moment for Accell Group. – Photo Accell Group

Accell Group secures support of creditors for recapitalisation

HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands - Accell Group can proceed with the restructuring of its financial position as it secured sufficient support from its key stakeholders. "The implementation of the recapitalization will create a sustainable financial and operational platform to execute our strategy," reported the company today. "Approximately 80% of our senior term and revolving facility lenders have committed their support for the recapitalisation, while other key creditors unanimously back the plan."

Cycling brands Accell, Canyon, Quality Bicycle Products, Rose, Schindelhauer, Schwalbe, Scott, and Trek have come together to launch the Climate Action Training course, now available to the entire cycling industry. - Photo Shift Cycling Culture

Cycling brands launch training to cut supply chain emissions

ZEIST, the Netherlands - Eight prominent cycling industry companies have come together to co-develop and launch a Climate Action Training tailored to the cycling industry. The course aims to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the industry's global supply chains.

“For our OEM customer we can take full control of product development, logistics, assembly, and provide delivery in the right place on time, so they can focus on sales,” says BFI CEO René Gasser. – Photo BFI

Bike Fun Int'l to accelerate growth thanks to "know-how in city bikes"

KOPRIVNICE, Czech Republic - The long-time experience in the production of city bikes for a leading Dutch brand, gave Bike Fun International (BFI) a strong position in the expanding urban mobility cycling market. Bike Europe talked with CEO René Gasser about the manufacturer's ambition to serve the central European markets as a leading distributor, but also how they can distinguish themselves as an OEM supplier.

Cycling is the green alternative to the car, but how environmentally friendly is the industry? – Photo Revolutions

New documentary showcases cycling industry's waste problem

BELFAST, UK - A new documentary has been released to showcase the extent of the waste problem within the cycling industry and offer solutions. Produced as part of a research project from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Revolutions is a 15-minute documentary that urges stakeholders from across the cycling industry to reconsider their approach and attitudes towards environmental sustainability.

Only two years ago, Pon Bike Performance GmbH opened the brand new production facility in Mainz. – Photo mtb-news.de

Pon reorganises European Santa Cruz and Cervélo production and closes...

MAINZ, Germany - For reasons of efficiency, Pon has decided to relocate the European production of Santa Cruz & Cervélo to the existing facility of Pon Bike in Emstek, Germany. The production in Mainz will be discontinued from April 2025. This was reported by the platform MTB-news.de.

Securing financial stability in a tough market

Securing financial stability in a tough market

The fact that a major player like Accell Group has been struggling under a burden of heavy debts gives a clear indication of the difficulties in the market. The manufacturer saw its turnover decline 10% from €1.43 billion in 2022 to €1.3 billion in 2023 as sales declined across major European markets and inventory levels remained high.

Market recovery emerging in 2024

Market recovery emerging in 2024

Whereas spring 2023 didn't offer an upturn in e-bike and bicycles sales, setting the course for much of the rest of the year, market indicators are suggesting that 2024 could be the year of stabilisation within bicycle market. Major indicators in the Netherlands and Germany are already pointing towards slow but steady recovery in these major markets.

2023 challenges European e-bike markets

2023 challenges European e-bike markets

Undeniably European e-bike sales took a step back last year. In 7 European countries who already reported their market statistics for 2023, the total volume decreased by 8%, from 4,555,264 units in 2022 to 4,178713 last year.

Will the market revival begin in Taiwan?

Will the market revival begin in Taiwan?

The Taipei International Cycle Show is always a good moment to take stock of the market situation, but this year 'Taipei' prepares the business to become a 'better' industry and put its focus on sustainability and other ESG topics. Besides the current market conditions, this online magazine also explores several Taiwanese companies who have started adopting ESG solutions in their production practises as the industry prepares for the future.