Electric bicycles at the Louvre in Paris on July 9, 2018 (AFP/Archives/FRANCOIS GUILLOT)
After crazy years in 2020 and 2021, linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, electric bicycles continued to progress in 2022 and now represent more than one in four bicycles sold in France.
738,454 electric-assisted bicycles (VAE) were sold during the year (+12%), representing 28% of the market, according to figures published Thursday by Union Sport & Cycle, which represents the sector.
PSA
“This figure is extraordinary!” welcomed Jérôme Valentin, vice-president of the organization and director of Cycleurope, one of the main French producers of bicycles (with the Gitane and Peugeot brands).
“We are coming out of two years of health crisis which have been very good for cycling, and we were expecting a year of consolidation, with a flat figure. Well no, demand has not dropped”, underlined M Valentin during an online presentation.
Electric bicycles are the delight of bicycle dealers, specialists in the sale and repair of cycles, who distribute the majority of them. If the major sports brands (Decathlon, Intersport) had fallen behind, in 2022 they experienced unprecedented growth in their sales, with much cheaper ranges.
Much more expensive than their “muscular” ancestors, and heavily subsidized, the VAE sold on average at 1,965 euros.
Mountain bikes and electric mountain bikes in particular have experienced very strong growth, as has the niche sector of cargo bikes, capable of transporting children as well as goods.
In total, the French cycle market now represents 3.6 billion euros, between electric and “muscle” bikes, maintenance and sale of accessories included.
– Half in the Netherlands –
The number of bicycles sold has however fallen, to 2,596,199 units (-7%). Because this push for electrics has come at the expense of traditional bicycles (-13% of bicycles sold in 2022).
“Globally, the major bicycle countries (the Netherlands, Germany) have suffered exactly the same trends, with a decline in classic bicycles and an increase in market value,” said Valentin. “The drop in classic bikes is linked to a drop in lower-priced bikes, i.e. children’s and entry-level models, in multisport (supermarkets)”.
A foldable electric bike built by is Ecovolt at the Autonomy and Urban Mobility show in Paris on October 16, 2019 (AFP/Archives/ERIC PIERMONT)
“Muscular” city bikes have also declined after strong increases in recent years, with a “saturation” of family equipment, and more frequent use of second-hand bikes (France would have between 30 and 35 million bicycles in cellars and garages).
The only ones to progress are the “gravel”, another niche of fast bikes but more versatile than road bikes, and which have cannibalized them a little.
“It’s the answer to new cyclists who want to enter the road or adventure market”, underlined Denis Briscadieu, president of the Cyclelab group (Culture Vélo stores). “It also corresponds to the umpteenth bike in the garage of an assiduous cyclist, who after the road bike, the mountain bike and the VAE, buys a gravel”.
Bicycle production in France was once again driven by electrics, at more than 850,000 units (+7%), and the sector expects to pass the 900,000 mark in 2023.
The government, which is preparing a new bicycle plan for the spring, has given the industry a very ambitious target of two million bicycles produced in France by 2030, with a sector integrating all the parts of the bicycle, as in the 1980s.
Imports of complete bicycles from Italy, Romania, Portugal or Taiwan still represent the majority of the market, but they have fallen by 7% in 2022.
“In the next 5 to 7 years, we have considerable growth potential” with the electric bike, underlined Mr. Valentin. “We have before us a market of more than three billion euros”. In 2022 in the Netherlands, for the first time, more than half of the bicycles sold were electric.
© 2023 AFP
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