Good news for German bike market

Industry association Zweirad Industry Verband (ZIV) has announced their estimates for German bike sales in 2015 and it is good news all round as a 6.6% increase brings total sales to over 4.3 million units. In addition to this, e-bike sales have also risen by over 10% to 535,000 units which contributed to the €2.4 billion total sales over the course of the 12 months. Germany will be happy with the way the market is going of late as not only has it led to an increase in sales but production of bikes, e-bikes and parts at home, and in terms of exports, has also risen healthily. With total sales increasing by 12% from 2014, overall sales of parts and components as well as bikes has risen to around €5 billion.

ZIV Managing Director, Siegfried Neuberger, has said “2014 was already a very positive year for the German bicycle industry. We are therefore all the more pleased that this positive trend continued. There are multiple reasons for this success; obviously the weather conditions have been in favour of cycling, but we have also noticed an increased use of bicycles in everyday mobility as well as a growing importance of the bicycle as a trendy status symbol. We assess this development as very solid. Therefore we are optimistic about the future.” 

The average price of bikes also went up over the course of the year to €557 which contributed to the rising sales amount. E-bikes are included in this figure and increased in popularity themselves by now representing 1/8th of the total market. In terms of the buyer, it is believed that they are getting younger, on average, and starting to choose a more sportier design with e-MTBs to thank for this.

It is not only sales at home that increased last year though as demand for bikes made in Germany increased by just shy of 40% taking their exports to 140,000 units. Germany seems to be setting the perfect example for the world in its plan for manufacturing, importing and exporting as well as selling and they are reaping the rewards for it.

Image provided by:The Cyclist Andre Greipel nID 44886441 © Radu Razvan Gheorghe | Dreamstime.com