Data from the Taiwan Bicycle Association (TBA) shows slight growth for the first time after several years of market weakness. The positive development is primarily due to the increased demand for high-quality products and significantly higher average prices. The price of exported e-bikes rose by an average of 12 per cent compared to the previous year. However, the export value rose only slightly: from January to April, it reached 236 million US dollars (around 207 million euros) - an increase of 0.26 per cent.
"The increased export value - despite declining unit sales - shows that the strategic focus on high-quality product segments is having an impact," explained Robert Wu, Chairman of the Taiwan Bicycle Association. "An e-bike is now three times the price of a conventional bicycle. This has prompted many manufacturers in Taiwan to invest more in the development of e-bikes." Export data from the bicycle sector was not disclosed. However, there was also growth in bicycle components: from January to April, the export value was 437 million US dollars (around 384 million euros), an increase of 5.92 per cent compared to the previous year.
Merida, Giant, Shimano with growth
However, there was good news from individual companies in the bicycle industry. Merida reported a 29 per cent increase in turnover in the first quarter and Giant recorded a 4.9 per cent increase in revenue. This is also in line with reports from Japanese component manufacturer Shimano: turnover in the bicycle division rose by 15.6 per cent in the first quarter. The figures confirm the importance of the European bicycle market for Shimano: 46 per cent of bicycle components were exported to Europe. The high revenue generated by the Shimano 105 and Shimano GRX groupsets was explicitly mentioned in the annual report. Nevertheless, Shimano remained cautious about the outlook - the difficult Storage situation is not yet completely over.
Stock market still cautious about Bicycle industry
Investors are still cautious on the stock market. The share prices of Shimano Inc. as well as Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and Merida had already recovered in March. In the course of the Discussion about new tariffs all three shares fell and have recorded losses since the beginning of the year.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
