The bike still dominates without e-support

The warehouses at the manufacturers and dealers are full. Not because there is no demand, but because the delivery bottlenecks in the first three quarters of last year led to production bottlenecks and the uncertainty about future energy costs made consumers reluctant to buy in autumn and winter. Now the situation has returned to normal – and the time to buy a new bike is now cheaper than it has been for a long time. Despite the circumstances mentioned, the industry itself can look back on a good year 2022.

According to the Zweirad-Industrie-Verband (ZIV), 4.6 million bicycles were sold in Germany last year. For the reasons already mentioned, this is around 100,000 fewer than in the previous year, but still 300,000 more than in the pre-Corona year 2019. On average, customers spent 500 euros for a bicycle without an auxiliary motor and 2800 euros for a pedelec. All in all, that’s about 200 euros more per bike than a year ago. A little more than half of the purchases are still for the classic bicycle without e-assistance. However, ZIV Managing Director Burkhard Stork expects that this year for the first time more pedelecs will be sold than non-assisted bicycles. In addition to cargo bikes, the main draws here are e-mountain bikes. But the fast S-Pedelecs also increased last year to 11,000 units (2021: 8000 units).

Statistically speaking, every person in Germany now has a bicycle – and the number is likely to continue to increase. The industry, which turned over 7.36 billion euros (plus twelve percent) last year, is now recognizing a trend towards second bikes (cargo or special sports bikes). In 2022, production by German bicycle manufacturers increased by eight percent to a record 2.6 million units, including 1.7 million e-bikes (+20%). 1.55 million bicycles were exported, almost exclusively to EU and EFTA countries. In addition, there are another 780,000 two-wheelers that German companies have manufactured abroad, mainly in Eastern Europe, and some of them have been imported. 52 percent of the bicycles sold in Germany last year came from Asia, although the EU has gained in importance as a production location, especially for e-bikes.

Sales of cargo bikes increased last year by more than 40,000 units to a total of 212,800 units. Bicycles without an auxiliary motor also experienced a slight increase. The increase in e-cargo bikes was 37.5 percent. Nevertheless, there is a two-wheeled means of transport that is in even greater demand: In 2022, 293,000 bicycle trailers were sold in Germany – a vehicle market that is completely underestimated in public perception. The same applies to the production of bicycle parts worth 1.6 billion euros in Germany, 60 percent of which were exported. (aum/jri)