Bicycle manufacturing: a growing market in Europe

Bicycles represent a growing market in Europe. E-bikes are beginning to increase in popularity and are bringing cycling to many more segments of the population. The bicycle has moved from the leisure and sports space to everyday life. And this potential is not alien to manufacturers of mobility components.

These are some of the ideas heard on June 1 at the Automotive Intelligence Center, located in the Basque Country, which held its first Bicycle-Automotive conference. Orbea, as a bicycle manufacturer, Shimano, Mahle and Teknia took part in this meeting, which aimed to link the world of bicycles with that of automotive component manufacturers.

Teknia attended as a multi-technology manufacturer, to explain its capabilities in five technologies. The Technical Advisory Director of Teknia, Michel Peña, pointed out that Teknia is able to offer its customers expertise in technology such as machining, for complex parts such as hubs or axles, tube forming, for parts such as handlebars and tubular structures or plastic injection, which is used in many components of a bicycle.

During the conference, it was explained that there is currently a trend towards the relocation of many components that were previously manufactured in remote locations. In this sense, many companies are increasingly deciding to bring their production and supply chains closer together.

More and more people are opting for bicycles

In terms of business, bicycles in Europe represent an annual market of 23 billion, of which 6.5 billion corresponds to the potential of component manufacturers. In fact, there are markets in which bicycle sales have occasionally exceeded automobile sales, as is the case in Italy, as was explained at the conference.

The size of the global bicycle market is estimated at 63.36 billion in 2022. Experts forecast an annual growth rate of more than 8% until 2030, as more people will opt for bicycles as a form of exercise and mobility solution.

Focusing on the countries with the most bicycles, three countries top the 2022 list of bicycle ownership in relation to the number of inhabitants. In the Netherlands, 99% of the population owns a bike. The Netherlands is followed by the Danes, with 80% of the population owning bicycles, and the Germans, with 76%.