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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
