Amsterdam, the Netherlands — Bike Europe reported recently on the success that ebike manufacturers are finding.

Germany is still the largest bicycle-producer in Europe, but it is currently being outnumbered in terms of value by the Netherlands. The vast difference in price between a regular bicycle and an e-Bike is the reason behind this ranking change.

The Dutch statistics agency (CBS) reported that the bikes produced in Europe last year were valued € 1.9 billion, of which 30% came from the Netherlands. The second in ranking is Germany with € 340 billion (18% of the total market) and third is France with € 170 billion (8% of the total market).

In 2008 the total Dutch bike production output was valued at € 577 million, a rise of 20% related to 2007. The Netherlands owes this leading position to a high average value per unit, boosted in the past years by the rising popularity of e-Bikes. Due to the advanced technology the average value of an e-Bike is far above that of a standard bike.

Last year the Dutch bought approximately 125,000 e-Bikes, approximately 10% of the market in volume. It is expected that this will rise to 25-30% in five years time.

See the original article at: E-Bikes Turns Bike Bizz into Big Billion Business.

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The Netherlands –  Sales of e-bikes like the Panasonic Vivi RX-10S are now leading the sales of conventional bicycles.

2008/2009 saw that, for the first time, the Dutch spent more on electric bikes than they did on conventional bikes.

Marketing services company GfK Retail and Technologyhas been tracking sales in Dutch bike shops since 1997.

By the end of 2008, electric bike sales accounted for 10 percent of the market according to BOVAG, the Dutch dealer association. The forecast had been for 120,000 e-bike sales. In the end, it was nearer 140,000.

The top selling e-bike brands in independent bike shops are Sparta and Batavus, then Gazelle and Giant, with Koga-Miyata in fifth place. The cheaper e-bikes tend to be bought in department and DIY stores, but 80 percent of e-bike sales are through dealers at an average price of nearly 2,000 euros.

At the Eurobike 2009 show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in early September, visitors were able to test-drive new models. More than 50 top brands ere exhibited.

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Soraya Nasirian visited the Netherlands, saw the Dutch on bicycles, and wondered “Why aren’t more Americans riding bicycles like this? Why do Americans ride hunched over, on bikes with no racks, carrying their stuff in all kinds of bags and riding so fast and aggressively?”

Nasirian decided to team up with Dutch husband Oscar Mulder to open up a new business to peddle Dutch pedals: My Dutch Bike on Market Street just east of Second Street in San Francisco. Their shop sells a few high-end Dutch city bikes, as well as the bakfiets, the Dutch answer to cargo bikes. Their sales are good enough to keep them in business, she says, although most of their business is online, and they will be moving soon to another location.

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AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - The e-Bike was an excellent seller for the Dutch bike market in 2008. In the other main European bike market, Germany, electric bicycles also gained momentum. Many other European E-bike companies are gaining momentum as well.

According to the Dutch industry organizations RAI and BOVAG, the number of e-Bikes sold in 2008 rose to about 140,000 units. In Germany 2008 sales totalled at 100,000 units. For 2009 this number is expected to grow with about 25 to 30%, says the German ZIV association.

For the entire European Union with its current 27 member states 2008 sales are estimated by some industry associations at 300,000 units (which seems too low eying the fact that only in Holland and Germany sales stood last year already at about a quarter of a million units).

In the world biggest e-Bike market, China, the business remained strong last year. Total 2008 sales stood at 21 million electric bicycles. According to officials at the China Bicycle Association (CBA), the ebike business of China is strong, with only a modest 4% reduction in export of complete e-Bikes due to economic crises last year.

China’s 2008 exports stood at 580,000 complete e-Bikes which were exported to 170 different countries. The CBA figures do not include the very large numbers of CKD and SKD electric bikes that are exported to India and the EU. With them included sales may be much larger than the export number suggest.

Source: BikeEU.com

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