Global electric bicycle market analysis in 2020
Since the epidemic in 2020, sales of two-wheelers have increased sharply, and electric bicycles have also been among them. Under the epidemic, the need to maintain a safe distance and the surge in food delivery and delivery services have promoted the development of two-wheelers, especially electric bicycles.
In China, electric bicycles have shown a good momentum in terms of production, sales, and export. From January to July 2020, China’s completed production of electric bicycles was 15.501 million, an increase of 18.7% year-on-year. The operating income of electric bicycles was 47.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.3%. From January to September this year, China’s exports of bicycles, electric bicycles and parts and components amounted to US$5.093 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%. As of September, China exported 1.197 million electric bicycles, an increase of 5.2%, and the export value was US$470 million, an increase of 2.7%. By the end of 2020, China’s sales of electric bicycles will exceed 30 million, and the social ownership will be close to 300 million.
The British Economist reported in July: Electric bicycles will not replace cars, but sales are growing rapidly, especially in Europe. Electric bicycles are even opening up the saturated bicycle market. In April 2020, sales of electric bicycles in the UK increased by 50% over the same period last year.
According to reports, the total sales of electric bicycles in Europe in 2020 is likely to exceed 3 million. The largest share of these bicycles is sold in Germany. From January to June 2020, Germany sold 1.1 million electric bicycles, an increase of 15.8%, and this year is likely to exceed the 1.5 million mark. Powering the strong performance of mountain bikes, sales in Germany increased by nearly 47% to nearly 360,000 units; sales in Switzerland increased by more than 24% to 50,000 units.
The sales volume of electric bicycles in North America may be described as a surge. Since March, it has shown great potential. This is mainly because North America, unlike Europe, is not admired by factors such as restrictions on aging blocks, and the demand for two-wheelers was not strong before the epidemic. Statistics show that North America’s sales in March increased by 84%, in April by 92%, and in May by 137%. The American electric bicycle company AVENTON Bikes saw a 600% increase in demand for electric bicycles in June. The person in charge said, “We are busier than ever, and order growth is breaking records almost every day.”
Sales in Maryland, Michigan, and Virginia increased by more than 1,000% in June, and by more than 600% in Texas. “Rad Power Bikes, located in Seattle, is one of the largest B2C electric bike brands in the US market. The company’s demand increased by nearly 300% in mid-May. Although due to work restrictions during the epidemic, the company doubled the size of its product support team. To meet the growing needs of customers. ＤYU Smart Bike also saw the similar order inscrease.
Policy blessing
The global growth of electric bicycle sales is certainly due to the epidemic, but the policy support and financial subsidies behind it are also important factors driving this data change. Especially in European countries, policy factors under the epidemic are important reasons.
Previously, electric bicycles were not popular in Europe. Especially in Western Europe where the proportion of households with cars is as high as 80%, bicycles have always been “fitness tools”-good for improving cardiovascular health, lowering blood pressure, and exercising muscles, etc., and their daily commuting functions are rarely considered.
After the epidemic, governments across Europe have successively launched stimulus plans to purchase electric bicycles. In June 2020, Chambery in eastern France began to subsidize 500 euros for every household who buys electric bicycles-which gives at least a 25% discount to electric bicycles. At least a dozen cities in France provide subsidies of hundreds to thousands of euros for the purchase of electric trucks.
Similar subsidy programs have been launched in about a dozen countries including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium.
In Italy, all urban residents with a population of more than 50,000 who buy electric bicycles or electric scooters can enjoy a subsidy of up to 70% of the price, and the subsidy is capped at 500 euros. This is one of the stimulus measures to “restart” Italy. From May 4th to December 31st, 2020.
According to reports, the Italian government’s subsidies for electric bicycles have obvious effects. In May, Italians’ willingness to buy electric bicycles increased by a total of 9 times, far exceeding the British 1.4 times and the French 1.2 times.
The German “electric self-propelled truck” subsidies up to 1,000 euros; electric bicycles subsidize 500 euros. For electric bicycle manufacturers, this is naturally good news. For example, the German luxury car brand BMW is active in the bicycle field. There are 8 models in the full range from bicycles to electric bicycles: a BMW electric city hybrid bicycle costs up to 2,590 euros; a folding ordinary bicycle costs 775 euros.
Competitive landscape
The data shows that in various countries and regions, the Asia-Pacific region and Western Europe account for most of the global electric bicycle market. Among them, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 94.4% of the electric bicycle market, Western Europe accounted for 4.6%, and the rest of the electric bicycle market accounted for less than 1%.
In the global electric bicycle market, companies from mainland China are the main ones, and companies from Japan and Taiwan have also performed well. China Yadea and Emma electric bicycles maintain their leading positions in the industry. Yadi electric bicycles will perform strongly in 2020. By November 28, the sales of Yadi electric bicycles in 2020 have exceeded 10 million. Emma sold 6 million units in 2019 and is leaping towards 10 million units in 2020. In addition, Chinese companies such as Feige and Xinri also performed well in electric bicycles. Xinri electric bicycles have five production bases in Wuxi, Tianjin, Xiangyang and Dongguan. Its products are exported to more than 70 countries and regions including Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia.
Giant electric bicycles in Taiwan, China are also one of the world’s largest bicycle production and marketing companies. Its network spans five continents and more than 50 countries. The company covers mainland China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands. And so on. Japan’s Fujitec electric bicycles carry out sales activities in 22 countries and regions including Japan, China, East Asia, South Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and have 12 production bases.
Future development
The rapid development of the electric bicycle market has brought many changes. The future electric bicycles will develop in a faster, more environmentally friendly, diversified and intelligent direction.
Lead to Lithium
The development of lithium battery electric bicycles has always been regarded as the first choice and direction for industry transformation and upgrading. Although the output of lithium battery electric bicycles has been increasing year by year, the overall development is still slow and the market share is not ideal. After the release of China’s new national standard, model design became a hot topic of industry discussion. In China, the new national standard for electric bicycles requires product quality (weight), and compared with lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries have the characteristics of small size, light weight , long life, and more charge and discharge times, which greatly promotes lithium. The use of batteries on electric bicycles. According to statistics, in 2019, the output of lithium battery electric bicycles was 4.98 million, which accounted for 13.8% of the industry’s output. In 2020, this figure will reach 20%.
Diversification
With the development and expansion of the electric bicycle market, consumption has shifted from early product demand to quality, function, personality, and experience demands. Therefore, its models are constantly adapting to market demands and developing electric bicycles with different needs. Electric bicycle manufacturers gradually abandon the traditional low-end models with poor experience, and vigorously develop a new generation of high-end models represented by intelligence, high-end and personalization, to enhance product competitiveness and brand image. DYU Smart Bike is one of the leading new generation manufacturers.
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