Bicycle gross sales fell considerably in 2023 | EUROtoday

Bicycle gross sales are plunging. In 2023, the cycle market will see a transparent decline in comparison with the earlier 12 months. Last 12 months, 2.2 million new bicycles had been bought in France, a drop of 14%, in line with the Cycle Observatory revealed on April 29 by Union Sport & Cycle (USC), the group which represents the sector. Jérôme Valentin, president of the Cycleurope firm, in Romilly-sur-Seine (Aube) and vice-president of USC, admits this bluntly: “It’s a difficult year for retailers, component manufacturers and assemblers”who design bicycles from largely imported spare components.

In worth, the bicycle market, which totals slightly greater than 3.4 billion euros, exhibits a much less marked decline, of -5.5% in comparison with 2022. The correction isn’t any much less extreme, after the sturdy will increase recorded annually since 2017. Between 2019 and 2020, the market, in worth, even elevated by 25%.

The sector is experiencing the identical decline as the electrical scooter, which, with 678,000 machines bought in 2023, is experiencing a drop of 11%, in line with figures from the Federation of Micro-Mobility Professionals, revealed on April 16. If gross sales of electrically assisted bicycles (–9%) fall lower than these of standard bicycles (–16%), the decline measured by the Cycle Observatory additionally issues French manufacturing; 645,000 bicycles had been assembled in France in 2023, 24% lower than in 2022.

From 500 euros on common to 978 euros

How can we clarify this backpedaling, regardless that the urge for food for biking, each throughout every day journeys and for leisure, continues unabated? The sector has had a turbulent historical past in recent times. In 2020, after the confinements, the usage of bicycles exploded. Each metropolis needs its “coronapistes”, biking amenities supposed to make sure social distancing and permit bodily exercise. Excursions and bicycle journeys are attracting an increasing number of vacationers. As a end result, gross sales are rising.

But sturdy demand on a worldwide scale is drying up shares. The trade can not sustain, and within the winter of 2020-2021, we’re even speaking about ” shortage “ of bicycles, aggravated by the difficulties of importing parts manufactured in Asia. From then on, to fulfill demand, factories expanded, assemblers recruited, and new manufacturers had been launched. At the identical time, shoppers and public authorities alike had been involved in regards to the disappearance, because the Nineteen Eighties, of bicycles made in France, which inspired the beginning of reindustrialization.

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