The e-bike business is growing

According to the Association of the European Bicycle Industry (Conebi for short), sales of bicycles and e-bikes increased to a total of 21.2 billion euros last year – that is an increase of around seven percent. E-bikes were sold more in the EU and Great Britain than in the previous year: the increase was almost nine percent, i.e. 5.5 million euros.

Conebi presented the figures on June 21, 2023 at the Eurobike trade fair.

The production of e-bikes has grown by 19 percent. However, the production of bicycles and e-bikes fell by five percent overall, and sales of the two product groups fell by nine percent to 20.2 million units. That means: More e-bikes are being produced and sold, but the business with non-motorized bicycles is declining.

“Despite the slowdown in bicycle sales in Europe in 2022, the overall industry and market trend is positive,” said Conebi Managing Director Manuel Marsilio. According to a dpa report, the number of direct and indirect jobs has reached a record level of 190,000.

Germany is the largest bicycle market in Europe, and the trend towards e-bikes is particularly noticeable in this market. According to that Bicycle Industry Associationor ZIV for short, e-bikes will overtake classic bicycles in terms of sales for the first time this year.

According to the industry association, 260,000 bicycles were exported in the first quarter of 2023 – compared to 2022, that is 14 percent more. Here, too, an increase in the e-bike business can be seen: 56 percent more motorized bicycles were exported than in the same period last year, that is 190,000 units.

According to the industry association, more two-wheelers have also been imported: 680,000 bicycles, which is 2.3 percent more, and 350,000 e-bikes, an increase of 12.7 percent.

At the same time, however, less was sold in the first few months of the year than in the same period of the previous year. Until mid-May 2023, this would have been due to the bad weather as well as the poor economic situation. The decline was 20 percent for bicycles, or 830,000 units, and 12 percent for e-bikes, or 850,000 units.

“In view of the ongoing war in Europe, inflation and general reluctance to buy and the very bad weather, we expected the market to slow down in the first few months,” says Burkhard Stork, Managing Director of the ZIV. In the medium to long term, they would expect the e-bike market to develop positively.

E-bikes can be quite expensive: Design variants usually cost more than 6,000 euros. One way to use the expensive two-wheelers can be subscriptions. While services such as Swapfiets have been offering subscriptions for bicycles for years and now also for e-bikes or rent out their motorized bicycles to e-bike start-ups such as Cycle, offers from luxury bicycle manufacturers are now also being added. Giant & Mueller is introducing a subscription model for its premium models this summer – according to its own statements, this makes them the first in Germany.