Swiss bike trade down sharply, but outlook is positive

The Swiss bicycle industry has failed to build on the success of the previous two years. Sales in the Swiss bicycle trade have fallen sharply, but are still above pre-pandemic levels and the outlook is very good.

Swiss bicycle expert Urs Rosenbaum explained that although the bicycle industry will have to work under difficult conditions until 2023, it is on track for success in the long run. Professional agency Dynamot assessed the import statistics of Velohandel in the Market Bulletin 2023 recently released by the Federal Office of Customs and Border Security. He described a similar roller coaster ride with Germany: only about 50% to 70% of regular demand from important producing countries will arrive in Germany in the first half of 2022. There was an initial shortage of bikes with and without motors during the peak spring season. Trends in sales in Swiss specialty trade since 2014.

Consumer Confidence Sluggish

The situation for the professional trade is made more difficult by the Swiss public's reluctance to spend more due to the war in Ukraine, looming energy shortages and rising living costs. As a result, sales of bicycles and e-bikes drop to around 448,000 units in 2022. By comparison: In a record-breaking 2020, sales rose by nearly 200,000 vehicles. Affected by this, the trade volume of bicycles fell by about 10% to 2.05 billion Swiss francs compared with the previous year. This is significantly lower than the previous two years, but still higher than the Swiss bicycle trade in all years before the corona pandemic.

Disappointed 2023

With many wheels still being delivered in early 2023, the industry kicked off the new year with full warehouses. The number is high as some orders for 2022 production are still being delivered. As a result, the campsite filled up quickly. Unfortunately, demand fell again this spring, as the cool, wet weather until mid-May significantly reduced the desire to cycle. As a result, business in the bicycle industry in 2023 is likely to be below its 2019 value, the pre-COVID-19 boost to bicycle and e-bike demand.

E-bike market has the potential to double

In the long run, Dynamot believes that the cycling industry is headed for a positive path, with a significant increase in bicycle traffic. This is shown by Dynamot's assessment of traffic volumes at Mobil counting points in Switzerland in its study. Furthermore, the market potential has not yet been exhausted. According to the micro-census, one in five households in Switzerland will own an electric bicycle in 2021. Assuming e-bikes continue to be a means of transportation for everyday use and leisure, there will be as many e-bike purchases as there have been in the next few years. Swiss households are more than twice as likely to own other common means of transport (bicycle, bus or train ticket, car).