BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Bike sales in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Germany are on the up and up, report national cycling organisations in these respective countries. Anecdotally, sales are also up in the UK but there are no reliable statistics to confirm this. Fair weather across much of Europe in 2014 is one of the key reasons for the sales uplift.
ANCMA, the Italian bicycle trade association, reports that domestic bike sales in 2014 reached 1,644,592 units, an increase of 6.6 percent compared to 2013. Italy exported 1,765,819 bicycles in 2014, an increase of 1.1 percent, cementing it as Europe’s leading bicycle exporter.
32 percent of the bicycles bought in Italy in 2014 were city/trekking bikes; 31 percent were mountain bikes; 18 percent were childrens’ bikes; 9 percent were Dutch-style roadsters; and just 4 percent were e-bikes. Sales of peddles were down by 0.5 percent to 51,156 units.
Independent dealers account for 47 percent of the Italian retail market for bicycles.
According to industry associations RAI and BOVAG, sales of bicycles in the Netherlands in 2014 reached 1.05 million (the Netherlands has a population of 16 million inhabitants), an increase of 11.2 percent. Sales of electric bikes continue to rise, with 223,000 units sold, an increase of 16 percent. 21 percent of all bicycles sold in the Netherlands now have some form of electrical assist.
French industry organisations UNIVELO and FPS report that bicycle sales in 2014 reached 2.38 million units, an increase of 7 percent. The average price also rose, by 1.5 percent to €307.
The largest market for bicycles in Europe remains Germany. Trade association Zweirad Industrie Verband (ZIV) reports 4.1m bicycles were sold in 2014, an increase of 8 percent. The average price of a bicycle in Germany has risen 1.5 percent to €528.
In the UK, the average price of a bicycle is said to be £233 (€326).
