DecryptionIf investors are interested in this means of transport boosted by the latest strikes and the pandemic, a “velorution” would however not be without consequences, economic and societal, on a country shaped by the car since the post-war period.
The video, broadcast since mid-December on the Net, borrows all the superlatives of automotive advertising. Against a background of grandiose music and slow-motion images, “The integrated automatic gearbox” and the electric motor “Which adapts to driving” will turn your lives upside down, promises the man in the sky blue shirt, fitted pants and insolent smile.
But this “World premiere” sold by the strategy director of Valeo, number 2 in France in automotive equipment, this time is not intended for manufacturers. It is on the electrically assisted bicycle (VAE) that the market, he believes, “Will be multiplied by fifteen in the next ten years”, which the group says it wants to bet.
This winter, when the financial group Bruxelles Lambert became the majority shareholder of the German manufacturer Canyon, a Luxembourg investment fund prospecting to buy a French brand in the world of bicycles. Early March, Porsche launched two very high-end bikes when, in France, mass retailers were battling to inaugurate their cycle workshop at the entrance to supermarkets.
“Avoid the escape of city dwellers”
Windfall effect or real strategy, the future will tell. But if investors and large groups persist in taking an interest in this means of transport boosted by the latest strikes and the pandemic, it is possible to imagine that France could become this “Bicycle nation” that Elisabeth Borne, then Minister of Ecology, called for in May 2020.
This “Velorution”, as its supporters call it, would not be without consequences for a country shaped by the car since the post-war period. Land use planning, lifestyle habits, but also the organization of entire sections of the economy based on the use of the automobile would be profoundly modified. “Creating pleasant places in the city, with less noise, more green spaces, is also the way to avoid the escape of city dwellers to the countryside”, notes Audrey de Nazelle, public health researcher at Imperial College London.
Over the past year, the spectacular strengthening of the cycling network has led to a strong increase in the practice. In 2020, excluding periods of confinement, “Counts have increased by 27%, both in urban areas and in the countryside”, notes Camille Thomé, director of the association of elected officials Cycling & territories. If we apply this evolution to the figures from INSEE censuses, the proportion of trips made by bicycle is now approaching 4%.
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