THE BESTOF2017 THE BEST OF BIKE EUROPE IN 2017 GET YOUR OWN END-OF-THE-YEAR SPECIAL - AWS
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T H E B E S T O F 20 1 7
THE BEST OF BIKE EUROPE IN 2017
GET YOUR OWN END-OF-THE-YEAR SPECIAL
6 March 2017 BIKE europe
MARKET REPORT GERMANY
While the e-bike gained a market share of 15%, speed e-bikes sales are still marginal
German Market Follows E-bike Trend:
Less Volume, High Turnover
BERLIN, Germany - After two ex- gained in the second half of the year. Therefore
cellent bicycle sales reports for we are convinced that the industry can be sat-
isfied with the final result. We should not for-
2014 and 2015, the German in- get that the market was excellent for the indus-
dustry organisation ZIV announced try in 2014 and 2015 so we are comparing 2017
less positive market results for sales with very high levels. All together we are
2016. Last year the volume of very confident about the future.” At Eurobike
last year, ZIV still expected a decline in market
combined sales for bicycles and volume between 6-8%.
e-bikes declined by 6.9% com-
pared with 2015, to 4.05 million Average retail price up
units. Once again the e-bike was In sales, the German bicycle market follows the
same trend as the Netherlands in the past
the positive note. Both sales and years, with the rise of the e-bike. In Germany
exports climbed by double digits. the market tendency now shows a decline in
overall volumes, while the turnover increases
jan-willem van schaik just like the average price. In 2016 the market
volume in Germany decreased by 6.9% while
Z
IV managing director, Siegfried Neuberg- the turnover rose by 7% from €2.42 billion in
er puts the 2016 market results in perspec- 2015 to €2.6 billion in 2016. According to the
tive by stating, “2016 was a difficult year ZIV this is the result of the increase in sales of
for the German bicycle industry. The in- e-bikes but also the growth in demand for
dustry is heavily dependent on the weather higher quality bicycles. Last year 605,000 new Also for the German dealer cooperative ZEG, the e-bike is now really in the lead. Photo: Bike Europe
conditions during the bicycle season. Unfor- e-bikes entered the market, an increase of 13%
tunately these were unfavourable in the first compared with 2015. As a result the average the German market is the e-bike, which now brands, but also the e-MTBs of Bulls and the
half of the year. Most of the business which was retail price surged last year by 15% to €643. Ob- accounts for up to 15% of the volume. The ZIV e-city and e-trekking bikes of Pegasus as well
lost between January and July, could not be re- viously the leading trend boosting the value of expects this number to grow in the years as Hercules had prominent positions at the
ahead. They anticipate an 18-20% market ZEG show.
share in the medium term and even 30% over Less positive news from the bicycle manufac-
the long term. The speed e-bike market is turer’s side came from MIFA.
slowly picking up as well. The volumes are still In December the company moved to a brand
marginal and 99% of all e-bikes sold are part new factory in its home town Sangerhausen.
of the 250W and 25km/h category. German However, just before the production could ac-
made e-bikes are very much in demand on tually start, it became clear that the company’s
other markets as the export volume boosted long time financial difficulties could not be
for the second consecutive year. In 2015 the ex- solved with multi-million euro investments
port volume was already up by 37%. It explod- only by owner Heinrich von Nathusius and the
ed again last year, growing by 66% to 233,000 company filed for insolvency. Apparently not
units. everybody could benefit from the e-bike boom
When stating “2016 was a difficult year for the on the German market. The final outcome of
German bicycle industry” the managing direc- this insolvency is still unclear at the time of
tor of the ZIV was mainly referring to the mar- writing.
ket for regular bicycles which declined by
nearly 10% in volume, or 370,000 units. In 2015
over 3.8 million bicycles were sold and last Market Share E-bike Categories
year this volume dropped to just over 3.4 mil-
lion. The main part of the decline came in the E-City/Urban 45%
categories city/urban, trekking, youth bikes E-trekking 35.5%
and MTBs. The other categories, Holland E-MTB 15%
bikes, touring bicycles and others, remained E-Cargo bikes 2.5%
stable. Speed e-bikes 1%
Others 1%
New bicycle factory and shifting Source ZIV
strategies
The market transformation to more e-bikes in-
stead of regular bicycles only was also echoed
Market Volume Bicycles & E-Bikes
in the changing strategy of some big players in 2015 2016 +/-
Germany. Last October Derby Cycle’s CEO Total market 4.35 m 4.05 m - 6.9%
Thomas Reith was appointed head of all Pon Bicycles 3.82 m 3.44 m - 9.7%
Bike Group’s e-bike activities. According to a E-Bikes 535,000 605,000 + 13%
company statement “In the fast growing e-
MTB sector Focus is to be the leading brand of
the Pon Bike Group.” German Bicycle & E-Bike Market
Also for the German dealer cooperative ZEG,
2014 2015 2016
the e-bike is now really in the lead. They al-
ready claimed a market share of 50% of all e- Sales in volume 4.10 mio 4.35 mio 4.05 mio
bikes sold in Germany. This claim was reflect- Average price 528 euro 559 euro 628 euro
ed in the 2017 model range presented last July Production total 2.14 mio 2.19 mio 1.97 mio
where e-bikes were top of mind for the first E-bike production 254,000 305,000 351,500
time for all ZEG brands. Obviously Zemo and Import 2.55 mio 2.91 mio 2.59 mio
Greenmover are ZEG’s dedicated e-bike Export 1.09 mio 1.02 mio 0.92 mio
BIKE europe January/February 2017 9
INTERVIEW
Shimano Europe MD Frank Peiffer on shortening lead times to meet today’s and future customers’ expectations
‘It Has To Happen’
EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands –
Frank Peiffer leaves no doubt what-
soever about the transformation by
the bicycle industry needed to meet
the requirements of ever more con-
sumers ordering online. “That has to
happen,” he says. Regarding how to
make it happen, the MD of Shimano
Europe’s bike division presents a
clear view, including the ifs and
buts that come with it.
Jack Oortwijn
B
ike Europe interviewed Frank Peiffer at
Shimano’s new European HQ exactly one
week after its official opening. It’s an office
that stands out design-wise as well as lo-
cation-wise. He explains what it expresses
about market expectations by the world’s big-
gest manufacturer of bike parts.
“Of course we believe strongly in bicycles and
their future. What growth lies ahead is some-
thing that nobody can predict precisely with re-
gard to ‘consumption’ and bike sales. But that
there is and will be a strong growth in usage is
clear. That’s also expressed in the latest trends.
It used to be fun and technology related to
mountain bikes. Nowadays Europe is setting
the trends which are more function-focused.”
What does this new HQ say location-wise
with regard to future Shimano products?
“That bikes will have more electronics like Frank Peiffer, ‘Changes must come fast as online sales grows fast and with that consumer expectations for delivery within one day.’ Photo: Bike Europe
many more products used daily. Bicycles will
become more high-tech, like cars that have for instance by Amazon. The industry has to “Currently only the 7-speed internal gear hub duction needs. It’s an integration process which
functions such as ABS and traction control. catch up here with regard to secured availabil- is produced at the Czech plant. Whether pro- is used by the car industry. You could say that
Such accident avoiding functions will also ity.” duction here is to be expanded is an option. Ja- e-bikes are touching on collaborative planning
come in bikes. And to create that we are at the pan has to decide on that. It’s a big facility so nowadays as more industries are involved like
right location for forming partnerships with Increasing the speed to market ability of we don’t want to exclude this possibility. Also, electronics, batteries, and software. And it is
high-tech companies.” bike makers in Europe means that lead production in Europe will help to increase sup- also being pushed by big growth in working
times have to be shortened. Is this possible ply chain flexibility and speed to market. But I capital.”
Is it correct to see this new HQ also as an ex- for Shimano? want to emphasise the fact that the attention to
pression of the fact that Europe is by far the “It’s possible for everybody as this is foremost planning is of the utmost importance.” Final question; would collaborative plan-
largest market for Shimano? related to planning. That needs more attention ning be in the interest of Shimano? In par-
“Correct; Europe is by far the biggest market for than changing production locations. Basically Are there other ways with which Shimano ticular when looking at the huge ups and
Shimano sales-wise. Whether it accounts for everybody needs to focus more on planning. can meet the supply chain flexibility/in- downs in Shimano‘s production levels in
close to 50% of all our sales or over 50% is also However, the industry is relatively bad in plan- creased speed to market needs of the indus- 2014/2015 and 2016, according to a recent
a question of currency fluctuations.” ning. What also comes into play here is that try? A supply chain expert said that collabo- Credit Suisse report.
everybody looks at their own plate instead of rative planning could also offer a suitable “Yes, it would definitely be in the interest of
Next to e-bike systems I think that soft goods the whole chain. Co-ordination and accurate solution. Do you agree? Shimano. Because of the ups and downs in pro-
are also getting more and more important numbers is what counts.” “Collaborative planning is a good tool. But I am duction levels, we offered this years ago to our
for Shimano Europe regarding the Lazer ac- not sure to what extent this is realistic. It calls customers. At that time it was not regarded as
quisition. What’s the strategy here? One of the leading bike makers in Europe for co-operation at many more steps in the an issue. Now we are still far away from produc-
“Lazer is another step in completing our soft presented a goal for shortened lead times – planning process. It also looks further in the fu- tion planning standards used in the car indus-
goods range. Here’s still quite something to it eventually must come down from 26 try.
gain for Shimano. We are currently focusing on weeks to 8 weeks. How do you comment on Getting to 8 weeks lead time is something that
brand positioning and at this new HQ we are this ultimate goal? ‘Online sales and needs to be achieved. Dealers have presented
bringing together all soft goods functions for “Shorter is better; also for Shimano. We are a time buffer and still do. Online sales require
creating more synergies.” adding a 3rd major shipping and logistics base future markets require a much shortened supply chain. We need a po-
in Europe; in Lyon, France for faster deliveries a much shortened sition on that in which all hands must be work-
Let’s switch now to the latest trend in the EU to our customers in France and Italy. But of ing together. It also requires a vision on future
market; do you agree to the claim that in- course there’s a limit to stock-levels. Also you supply chain.’ products and where to have them made.
creasing the speed to market of bikes and have to define lead time. Does it, for instance, Switching to omni-channel is not an easy step
bike products will become essential in the include raw material purchasing? Including also when taking logistics into account. But as
coming years when taking changing con- that you cannot come to 8 weeks.” ture. It requires a real one-year ahead forecast an industry we cannot afford for such a switch
sumer behaviour and rapidly growing on- including the production planning in numbers. to take too long. Changes must come fast as on-
line sales into account? Is more production in Europe an option for Next to that, collaborative planning includes line sales grows fast and with that consumer ex-
“What’s clear here is that consumers are ex- Shimano to meet the industry’s need for discussions on market expectations that go two pectations for delivery within one day. It has to
pecting more nowadays. In particular when speed? And what are you currently produc- years ahead including factors such as technol- happen. Otherwise others will take-over the
taking into account the online services offered ing in the Shimano Czech Republic facility? ogy developments, product planning and pro- business.”
12 March 2017 BIKE europe
SHOW REVIEW
30th Taipei International Cycle Show reflects
E-Bike Significance Rising to New Highs
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Electric bikes in of China industry had a disastrous 2016 with a new 250W motor is with under 3.5 kg also light- offers ‘Comodule Analytics’; an online platform
various forms were the big, main drop in bicycle export of some 26%. Export to the er. The Dapu motor offers a big 80Nm and is suit- which visualises live performance data of the
country’s number one destination – Europe – was able for power assist up to 25 - 32 km/h. Brose drive system for the manufacturer. The
thing at this year’s Taipei Cycle. Of down by 25%. These official Taiwan Bicycle As- Also Bafang presented a new mid-motor at Tai- second feature is called ‘Comodule Operate’.
course they have been there for sociation (TBA) figures are excluding e-bikes. pei Cycle. It’s one that is targeting e-MTBs but This is a smartphone app made for the bike rid-
years already - but now everybody Compared to regular bikes ‘Taiwan’ did much can be used in any e-bike category including er and offers him or her direct interaction with
has set their sights on electric better with e-bikes. The TBA reported a “strong speed pedelecs. For that it offers a rated power the bike. Other service providers that were pre-
and steady growth” on the export of electric bi- of 1,000W and a maximum torque of a big senting in Taipei offered similar connectivity so-
bikes; from parts makers to connec- cycles. Total export upped big, by 83% to over 160Nm. More news on Bafang is that the drive lutions.
tivity providers while the interest for 110,000 units in the first ten months of 2016. With system manufacturer will start to produce bat- Last but not least on e-bike developments pre-
e-MTBs from Asia is rising. Taipei that the Taiwan industry is gaining a foothold in teries. The company announced an initial invest- sented in Taipei was that more drive system sup-
Cycle’s message was crystal clear; the all-important mid to hi-end segments of the ment of €11.2 million to push its own battery de- pliers are entering the market. Companies like
e-bike markets; contrary to Chinese exports velopment and an automated production Hydrive from Taiwan, MAC from China and
the significance of the e-trend will which continue to linger at the low to mid-end facility. “OEM partners prefer complete system Marquardt from Germany. Marquardt stems
continue to exceed all expectations. market segments. solutions today,” said Jack Brandsen, GM Bafang from the automotive industry and is a maker of
That many of the OEMs in Asia are now focusing Europe. “It became crucial to offer this option as display’s, handlebar controls, motor control
jack oortwijn on e-bikes has also much to do with the fact that well, besides the flexible approach Bafang is pro- units as well as batteries with BMS. The compa-
on various Asian markets the interest for in par- viding.” ny cooperates with Brose for offering complete
What the 30th edition of the biggest bike show in ticular e-MTBs is growing. However, this raises drive systems.
Asia also indicated was that the bike market, af- the question of how to handle aftermarket ser- E-bike connectivity Apart from all this, the waiting is now for nice
ter a tough 2016 that brought poor results, is vices. In particular when taking the knowledge Connectivity solutions for e-bikes were also pre- spring weather to spark sales. Many have their
starting to move again. But it’s still in the early on electronics by Asian retailers into account. sented in Taipei by providers like Comodule. In hopes up for the Easter weekend - contrary to last
stages and being cautiously addressed by many. Apart from all that; thanks to the interest in e- a common project Brose and Comodule imple- year when it was in March, it’s now in April. Warm
Next to that it’s limited to e-bikes as well as e- bikes more visitors from Asia were at this year’s mented a complete e-bike integration system. It and sunny weather then should do the trick.
MTBs. And that goes particularly for Europe. Taipei Cycle. They filled the gap formed by few-
Reviewing this year’s 30th Taipei Cycle, one thing er visitors from Europe and the US.
is certain; this edition will not go down in the his- New 2018 dates to restore former identity as industry show?
tory books as an outstanding one. That has all to
do with 2016 leaving its mark on inventory lev-
els. Many on the show floor indicate them as still
Developments
New e-bike (mid) motors; new drive train mak-
ers; new batteries; new parts specifically target-
Taipei Cycle Going Back to the Future?
high in the US. In Europe it’s said to be a less ing electric bicycles; all of that was at the 30th Tai- With Taipei Cycle 2017 gone into the his- in Europe and the US. The industry role
pressing problem. And this is where the market pei Cycle. Which of these will move the market tory books, the 2018 edition comes into of Taipei Cycle diminished because the
starts to move again; in particular for e-bikes. most in 2018 was what became known from view. And that’s the one that has a OEM ordering cycle changed over the
Bosch at Taipei Cycle. Europe’s biggest e-bike schedule which is completely different to years. This triggered the rise of Taichung
Future growth drive system maker is launching a mid-motor for all the previous Taipei Cycle shows. The Bike Week.
The big trend in Taipei was the e-bike. Parts mak- lower price segments. E-bikes fitted with this new 30 previous editions all took place early Whether the Taipei Cycle 2018 date
ers in particular are finally viewing them as Bosch system are to retail for €1,300 to €1,500. in the year. For next year however Asia’s change to the end of October is mainly
where the possibilities for future growth are. And This Model Year 2018 ‘Active Line Plus Genera- biggest bike show is switching to an end driven by competition reasons with Tai-
with that are looking for every opportunity to tion 3’ mid-motor is setting new price points in of the year schedule. chung Bike Week is denied by the show
hook-up to the e-trend. The same goes for the Europe’s e-bike mid-motor market. Electric bi- The 2018 Taipei International Cycle organiser of Taipei Cycle that claims,
OEM makers located in countries that have GSP cycles fitted with front hub motors are currently Show will be held from 31 October to 3 “The purpose and function of Taichung
+ (import duty free) status for Europe. A&J, Asa- sold for about €1,299 at retailers. With the new November 2018. With that date change Bike Week is very different from Taipei Cy-
ma, Strongman, and others like Bangkok Cycle Bosch system this price segment looks now to is Taipei Cycle also changing back to cle. There’s no direct competition.” Also,
are now all getting heavily into electric bicycles become the entry-level point for models fitted what the show was in its early days? the 2017 Taichung Bike Week will take
and in particular into e-MTBs. One of them said, with mid-motors. Bosch has launched its entry- Back in the late 80s and early 90s (it place 17 – 20 October. If such dates are
“We are a bit late stepping into it. But we have level generation 3 mid-motor earlier to OEMs. At started in 1988) Taipei Cycle was an in- also scheduled for 2018 there will be di-
been working hard and investing into the capa- Taipei Cycle the first parts that can be used in dustry ordering show. Over the past 30 rect competition between the two events.
bility to produce them. We have our line-up combination with this new drive system were years Taipei Cycle evolved more and At this year’s Taipei Cycle many said it
ready now.” The OEMs located in Cambodia, Vi- presented. more into a distributor show where would be ludicrous to attend or as an ex-
etnam and other Asian countries were present- Another new mid-motor and one that stands out wholesalers, importers place their follow- hibitor take part in both events and that
ing broad ranges of in particular e-MTBs. The for its size was presented by Dapu. It’s compact up orders for the upcoming sales season they would opt for Taipei Cycle.
same goes for the ones in Taiwan. The Republic for easy and better frame-integration while the
The 30th Taipei Cycle will not go down in the history books as an outstanding one. Photos: Bike Europe Next September Fritz Jou will open the brand-new Portugal facility where pilot production is then to start.
BIKE europe March 2017 13
SHOW REVIEW
Bosch is launching a mid-motor for lower (€1300 re- Parts makers are viewing every possibility to hook-up Basic bicycle for Chinese bike-share programs cur- Taipei Cycle’s crystal clear message - e-trend will con-
tail) price segments. to the e-trend. rently made hundreds of thousands per month. tinue to exceed all expectations.
An honour for Taipei Cycle - Taiwan’s new President Ing-wen Tsai made a speech and joined the opening ceremony.
Thanks to the interest in e-bikes, more visitors from Asia were at Taipei Cycle; filling the gap formed by fewer
TIG welding and laser cutting robots were presented by Shuz Tung Machinery, as alloy frame production grows in EU. visitors from Europe and the US.
Apro E-Road frame. Road race next to be hit by e-trend? Bafang’s new mid-motor targets e-MTBs with 1,000W power and 160Nm torque.
8 April 2017 BIKE europe
BUSINESS
As demand explodes not only from automotive industry in coming years...
E-Bike Sector Facing Battery Supply Shortages?
ASCHAFFENBURG, Germany – The dustry compared to that of the automotive sec-
future scenario looks bleak. Espe- tor, Bauer predicts a scenario of, “main suppli-
ers of battery cells not being able to meet the
cially when taking into account the demand. The smaller customers like e-bike
strategic gap in battery cell supply manufacturers will be faced with shortages or
now arising as demand is explod- even a stop of supplies.”
ing – not only due to the automo- However, the CEO of battery maker BMZ also
presented a solution to such a nightmare situ-
tive industry switching to electric ation. What the solution looks like will follow in
cars and buses. Other applications this report. First, the current and future situa-
such as energy storage systems are tion of the worldwide battery market; accord-
on the rise because of the transi- ing to an analysis by Sven Bauer.
tion to green energy. Where all this Current and future technology
leads to was outlined in a global That current situation shows for instance a Tesla
market analysis by CEO Sven Bauer car that needs close to 8,000 battery cells, or an
of BMZ GmbH, Europe’s biggest electric public bus that has a battery system in-
corporating a whopping 35,000 cells! By compar-
battery maker, at the recently held ison, an e-bike battery has about 40 – 60 cells. In
Battery Experts Forum. series and parallel-connected cells make up a
complete battery including all that comes with it
jack oortwijn such as the Battery Management System (BMS).
Almost all of these cells are currently 18650
C
urrently the world’s e-bike sector takes up types (18 mm diameter and 65 mm long) and
about 10% of all battery cells produced. look like the commonly used penlight batteries.
Taking into account the fact that Bosch re- Cell production is slowly switching to 21700
cently said that it expects the e-bike mar- ones as the bigger size is bringing a bigger ca- BMZ CEO Bauer: ‘Main cell suppliers will not be able to meet the demand. Smaller customers like e-bike makers
ket to have tripled by 2020, the demand for cells pacity. With that capacity the lifetime of an e- will be faced with shortages or even a stop of supplies.’ Photos: Bike Europe
used in e-bike batteries will rise to 30%. Look- bike battery is extended from the current aver-
ing at the current market situation and taking age of roughly 500 charging cycles up to 1,500 According to Bauer, the round 21700 cells with Production concentrated in Asia
into account the significance of the bicycle in- to 2,000 cycles. their nominal capacity of 5.2Ah are the way to Currently the world has four major cell makers;
go for the near future. He said, “It will be the Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and LG. Next to
new standard. Of the major cell makers Sony them there are about a dozen smaller makers
and Panasonic will start producing them next like Lishen, Maxell, or ATN while Apple i-phone
September and Samsung by April 2018.” producer Foxconn is looking to step in. All these
However, the BMZ CEO also explained that while producers are located in Asia; in Japan, Korea,
Tesla is convinced of the superior 21700 cell and China.
qualities, the German car industry isn’t, as BMW The four biggest makers handle 80% of the mar-
is opting for prismatic Lithion-Ion batteries. ket. According to the BMZ CEO, annual cell pro-
Next to 21700 Lithion-Ion battery cells the BMZ duction currently stands at 5.4 billion. This pro-
CEO doesn’t see any other technology taking duction total is expected to quadruple in the
over from the current Lithium-Ion technology. next ten years. But even then the question re-
Apart from Li-NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) mains; will there be enough supply? And next to
that is. He predicted at the Battery Experts Fo- that another question arises. And that is wheth-
rum that this is the battery technology for the er batteries will still be affordable in the near fu-
near future. ture? This question is brought about by the fact
“NMC is the battery of choice for power tools, that the demand for lithium is growing by 27%
e-bikes and other electric powertrains. It will be per year. According to Sven Bauer, “there’s
possible to reach over 2,000Wh and with that it enough but it comes mainly from China and this
will be possible to produce more tailored bat- country’s subsidies for switching to Light Elec-
teries like for instance for e-bikes that need an tric Vehicles for urban mobility brings a huge de-
annual recharging of only some 50 cycles.” mand increase. Will it come to China First? Next
to that the price for copper is up by 30%.”
According to BMZ CEO Bauer, all this leads to
Battery Experts’ Forum the following conclusions:
• Cell makers cannot keep up with demand;
The 13th Battery Experts Forum - meet- • Cell makers will concentrate on the automo-
ing point for the international battery tive industry;
world - took place in Aschaffenburg, • Raw material prices on the rise;
Germany from 14 - 16 March 2017. • Increased volatility also in currencies.
The organiser was Batteryuniversity
GmbH. Over 50 leading experts, devel- Cell production in Europe
opers and researchers reported on the What is to bring relief to the nightmare scenar-
latest trends in lithium ion battery tech- io described by Sven Bauer – with e-bike mak-
nologies. In addition to the presenta- ers no longer getting the batteries they need, is
tions, the forum also featured a small- to start cell production in Europe. That is made
scaled exhibition. The 13th Battery possible as the federal German government is
Experts Forum was visited by some offering a subsidy.
400 professionals from the power At the Battery Experts Forum the plans for the
tools, e-bike and forklifts industry, and cell producing facility were revealed. Plans
other businesses relying on batteries. clearly show that they are already in a well-ad-
The 14th Battery Experts Forum will take vanced stage. A company called DZP which
place from 27 February to 1 March stands for ‘Deutsche Zell Produktion’ (German
2018 in Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt. Cell Producer) will be formed by a consortium
of companies that each take a stake in the cell
BIKE europe April 2017 9
BUSINESS
The 13th Battery Experts Forum was visited by some 400 professionals from the power tools, e-bike and forklifts
industry, and other businesses relying on batteries.
producing facility. The cell production facility amount to some €3 billion.
has not yet been named. Conglomerate Thys- The initial planning of what Sven Bauer calls the
senkrupp will take part in DZP, as well as Manz ‘European Giga Cell Facility’ has started. This
AG, M+M GmbH, BMZ Group, and others. This facility will have a total ground surface of
consortium has to put up 50% of the total invest- 120,000m², of which 34,000m² is the production
ment in the German cell producing facility. The area. The giga cell facility will feature accredit-
other half will come from the German govern- ed test laboratories. Production is expected to
ment. Total investment in the facility will start in 2021.
Exhibition Reflects Battery
Importance for E-Mobility
That Lithium-Ion batteries are the corner-
stones for the breakthrough of electro-
mobility was reflected at the exhibition
that ran parallel to the Battery Experts
Forum. Here it became very clear that
battery research is running at full speed
as globally electromobility is regarded as
one of the keys for stopping global warm-
ing.
E-Mobility comprises many more ele-
ments than just the electric vehicle: the
electromobility system is formed of many The exhibition that ran parallel to the Battery Ex-
components together, from drive technol- perts Forum made very clear that battery research
ogies to the charging infrastructure. Be- is running at full speed. Photos: Bike Europe
tween 2020 and 2030, the experts from
the German national platform for electro- showed that such developments boost
mobility (NPE) are expecting a significant the electronics industry. Various battery
breakthrough in electromobility. Germany makers that also target e-bikes present-
aims to acquire a leading position with ed themselves here. Companies like
high-quality products, services and solu- Akku Power GmbH, Ansmann or TWS
tions. For that the federal government is showed their latest batteries, while nu-
H-B la ck Pro
pursuing the aim of registering a million merous testing houses were also here.
electric cars by 2020. To this end, it The same goes for others that target the
agreed a promotion in 2016 in the form safe storage of Li-Ion batteries like Li-
ables superior
of buyers’ premiums, tax incentives and maTech which offers the Akku-Safe for
to r te c h no lo gy en
Proje c
expansion of the charging infrastructure. safe charging and storage of (among oth-
in g 10 0 % o f
The Battery Experts Forum exhibition ers) e-bike batteries.
ligh t pa ttern b y utiliz
output up to
availa ble L E D ligh t,
achin ed housin g,
23 0 lum en s, C NC m
as dy na m o an d e- bike versions
availa ble
t id ea s fr o m liv in g in da rkness.
B righ
Various battery makers that also target e-bikes pre-
sented themselves at the Forum’s exhibition. Com- Akku-Safe for safe charging and storage of (among
panies like Akku Power, Ansmann or TWS. others) e-bike batteries. www.herrmans.eu
10 April 2017 BIKE europe
MARKET REPORT UNITED KINGDOM
Stable sales mask a booming e-bike market:
Brexit Looms Over UK Market
LONDON, UK - The vast majority of most in the UK bike trade - who are largely de-
UK cycle sales are imports from pendent on the price of imports - is how long
and how successfully extra costs induced by the
the Far East and there is a boom- weak pound can be absorbed or mitigated, es-
ing but relatively tiny e-bike market pecially now Article 50 has been triggered by the
numbering in the tens of thou- UK government.
sands of units. Cycling UK sug-
The rise of the chains
gests, based on ‘informal industry It is estimated that the independent bike sector,
estimate’, that 30% of cycles sold though having very slowly declined its market
are childrens’, 30% MTBs, 10% share in recent years, still accounts for 35-40%
road, 26% classic/hybrid, and 4% of bike sales. The major bike retail chain Hal-
fords has a slightly smaller market share than
folding/other. They also suggest all IBDs combined. One cloud on the Halfords
about half of the retail value of the horizon is the recent analyst downgrading of
cycle market comes from bicycle shares, despite the company’s greater empha-
sales, and half from parts and ac- sis on online sales and the growth of its high
street stores, branded Cycle Republic. Halfords
cessories. main chain competitor, Evans, saw its 2015 pre-
tax profits plunge 69% but it is not yet clear how
Richard Peace 2016 has treated the company who have also
rolled out its own brand electric bike, as well as
S
o perhaps the biggest news is what has not significantly increasing its third-party e-bike
happened. A shock impact from the June brand offering.
2016 Brexit referendum result has not yet Other chain competitors include Go Outdoors,
materialised in the UK economy at large whose 58 out-of-town superstores are now
nor in the cycling economy. Consumer spend- owned by JD Sports Fashion plc, who felt they UK bike manufacturing renaissance? Next to new Brompton facility, Frog relocating production from China to
ing and wage growth have not collapsed, de- complemented their own town centre locations. South Wales, as well as by Trinity Cycles. Photo: Brompton
spite pressure on prices due to the weak pound Earlier in 2016, pre-takeover, Go Outdoors in-
in the wake of the result. vested millions in new stores and expanded its er in our market, we don’t sell direct, we’re see- but Momentum Electric has done the reverse to
cycle product range significantly as a result. ing an increase in sales to IBDs whilst the spe- enter a more vacant sub GBP 1,000 (€1,170) cat-
UK bike manufacturing renaissance? Decathlon also looks to be making good pro- cialist e-bike retailers are also increasing the egory to gain volume.” He also said: “E-MTBs
However, there are signs pointing to possible gress and its 20 UK stores might expand in-line volume of KTMs they are selling.” This was tem- are taking off in a huge way but I think the main
trends ahead. UK-based bike manufacturing re- with the company’s increase in profits and glob- pered with a warning on costs: “Some of our e- benefactors are the major European brands. E-
mains tiny in the UK at around 70,000 bikes per al expansion philosophy and it will be interest- bike’s recommended retail prices (RRP), for an MTBs are complex machines and the average
year, but showed signs of resurgence. Most no- ing to see if the Decathlon ‘City’ brand of stores identical product are now (2017) 20%+ more Chinese OEM factory is not able to produce a
table in 2016 was folding bike manufacturer are rolled out in the UK. than in 2016 due to exchange rate rise, account- decent one easily. I know of several new direct
Brompton’s completion of the move to their ing for, a 14% increase at cost price while the to consumer brands coming on to the market
new large London factory, aiming to substan- E-bike bubble or long term growth rest is caused by currency fluctuations. Who in the near future. I do not think they will last
tially up production from the current level of With sales estimates varying, it seems 50,000 knows what will happen to the RRPs in 2018 if because although the margins are more attrac-
around 40,000 bikes per annum and to start plus is the current upper guesstimate accord- we leave the single market as is currently tive, to survive they need to invest heavily in
manufacturing an electric assist version in 2017. ing to those in the industry. With e-bikes strong- planned.” marketing and after sales and that is something
There were other small signs in 2016 of a UK ly entrenched at London and Birmingham bike I have not seen done correctly in the UK. The
bike manufacturing renaissance, with light- shows, in many IBDs, Halfords and Evans it E-MTBs taking off main positive example that people like to draw
weight children’s bike manufacturer Frog relo- seems their strong growth is here for the short Ying Tsao-Tan of Momentum Electric had a dif- on is Stella in the Netherlands and they are do-
cating production from China to South Wales term at least. For example Whisper and EBCO ferent take on the exchange rate fluctuation, be- ing a great job on those two fronts.”
and talk of introducing mass production of steel both report a doubling of stock levels for 2017. lieving it has presented his company’s more Of course the even bigger overarching question
bikes by Liberty House, following their purchase Again the big cloud hanging over the UK e-bike budget orientated e-bikes with an opportunity. for the UK electric bike market is whether they
of Trillion Cycles. Looking even further ahead, industry is Brexit and price rises. Bike Europe “Brexit has had a huge impact on many busi- can emulate the sustained success of Germany
Hero Cycles are clearly aware of the possibility got two similar yet contrasting views from those nesses due to the weak pound. There is possi- and the Netherlands - both countries with rel-
of post Brexit trade deals, signalled by the open- in the UK industry. Fli Distribution Ltd imports bly further uncertainty due to regulations but atively widespread networks of high quality cy-
ing of their global design HQ in Manchester. KTM. Fli’s Col Williams commented: “We sell that is not immediate. Many competitors have cle paths and relatively high levels of cycle us-
In the short term though the big question for out of everything e-bike, year-on-year. Howev- increased their prices due to the weak pound age.
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H I G H M A R G I N S · F U L L A S S O R T M E N T · A LWAY S AVA I L A B L E
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BIKE europe April 2017 11
MARKET REPORT THE NETHERLANDS
E-Bike sales stable around 270,000 units in 2016:
Netherlands Sees Record in Value, Drop in Volume
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands – was limited to 3.1%. In 2016 the total market
For the 4th consecutive year the to- volume decreased by 5.7%, from 983,000 units
in 2015 to 928,000 bicycles last year. Not since
tal bicycle market value in the 1987 has the market reached such a low vol-
Netherlands reached a record lev- ume. The Dutch market shows a steady decline
el. The turnover made with the sale since 2007 as in that year the market volume
of new bicycles and e-bikes ended tipped the 1.4 million units, an absolute record.
at close to €1 billion on 31 Decem- 90 e-bike brands on the market
ber 2016. Despite this record, the The chairman of the bicycle section of the in-
Dutch industry association RAI-Ve- dustry association, Wouter Jager, did not want
reniging reported that not all the to characterise the market as being in stagna-
tion. At the ‘Tweewieler Retail Trends Con-
news from the cycling loving coun- gress’ organised by Bike Europe’s sister maga-
try was positive, as the 2016 sales zine Tweewieler he said. “It’s too early to say
volume declined to the lowest level that the e-bike market has reached its maxi-
in 30 years. mum share at 29% as it was in 2016. We think
that there’s is still potential for growth in this
product category.” On the other hand he also
jan-willem van schaik pointed out that “in the future regular bikes will
continue to make up a substantial part of the
T
he RAI-Vereniging market statistics for 2016 market, I am convinced of that.” Jager also re-
show a total of 928,000 new bicycles and e- ported that, “Rampant growth of e-bike sales The market share for e-bikes increased again – from 28% in 2015 to 29% last year. Photo: Bike Europe
bikes were sold in the Netherlands. The to- resulted in the presence of more than 90 differ-
tal retail value of those sales stood at €937 ent e-bike brands on the market today”, and on cult to make the speed-pedelec as successful able on the market now.” In an official
million. The statistics also indicate e-bike sales the other hand, “the announcement of Media as the e-bike in the Netherlands,” said Jager, ceremony at the end of March, Dutch Minister
hovered around the same level as in 2015 – at Markt that they will pull out (of ) the e-bike “but this category of bicycles certainly has of Transport Melanie Schultz handed this
270,000 units. market shows that market entrance is certain- more potential. A lot of consumers hesitated to speed pedelec helmet to the cyclists’ federation
The growing importance of the e-bike catego- ly not easy.” buy a speed-pedelec due to new regulations Fietsersbond. “This is a fine example of inno-
ry, pushing up the average retail price, contin- This was not the only change occurring in the which were implemented last year. Also the ob- vation,” said Minister Schultz at the presenta-
ued in 2016, though at a much lower pace. The bicycle retail market. In 2016, IBDs managed to ligation as of January 2017 to wear a helmet tion. “The market develops a nice product the
market share for e-bikes increased again – from increase their market share in volume substan- when riding a speed-pedelec made people re- consumer likes a lot and the government ad-
28% in 2015 to 29% last year, making it the sec- tially; from 70% to 76%. Jager pointed to the luctant. Therefore, we are very content with the justs the laws and regulations as soon as possi-
ond largest category after city and touring bankruptcy of the department store Vroom & special speed-pedelec helmet which was de- ble.” According to the RAI-Vereniging, the fleet
bikes. Thanks to e-bikes the total market value Dreesman as well as the retail chain Halfords veloped in close co-operation between the na- of speed-pedelecs in the Netherlands already
increased by 4.2%. Also, for the first time in his- as a contributing factor. Although Halfords tional authorities and the industry and is avail- exceeds 10,000 units.
tory the average retail price in all distribution made a restart on a smaller scale “the turnover
channels, including online, exceeded the in bicycles of both formulas who were offering
€1,000 mark and ended at €1,010, an increase bicycles in the low to mid-end range has part-
Dutch Bicycle Market 2012 - 2016
of more than 10% compared with 2015. For the ly been taken over by several webshops,” Jager 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 +\-
IBD channel only, the average retail price is said. The same goes for the market share of Sales in units (x 1,000) 1,035 1,008 1,051 983 928 - 5.7%
even higher – at €1,094, although the increase large DIY-stores who have greatly limited their Market value (x € 1,000) 769,159 797,264 886,605 899,020 936,829 + 4.2%
bicycle range in the past few years. Unfortu-
nately the statistics of the RAI-Vereniging do In price categories
Bicycle Categories on the Dutch not clarify the market share of webshops, as the till 300 22% 18% 14% 12% 11%
Market growing importance of online sales is a leading 301 t/m 499 11% 15% 17% 17% 16%
2014 2015 2016 +\- issue regarding the future of the IBDs. 500 t/m 699 17% 21% 22% 21% 22%
City bikes 41% 42% 43% - 3.4% 700 t/m 899 20% 18% 20% 16% 15%
Hybrid bikes 7% 5% 6% + 14.3% Potential of the speed-pedelec More than 900 euro 30% 30% 27% 33% 35%
Kids bikes 12% 14% 12% - 19.6% Just like the e-bike sales, the market for speed-
E-bikes 21% 28% 29% - 1.8% pedelecs in the Netherlands also stayed at the Average retail price in euro 743 791 844 914 1,010 + 10.5%
Others 9% 11% 10% - 1.4% same level in 2016 compared with 2015, with a Average retail price at IBDs in euro 964 989 974 1058 1,091 + 3.1%
Source: RAI Vereniging volume of just over 3,400 units. “It will be diffi- Source: RAI Vereniging
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10.03.2017 11:27:56
BIKE europe May 2017 7
INTERVIEW
World Cycling Forum keynote speaker Ronald van Klooster, Maxlead, on online battle for consumers and
How To Survive Competition of Online Players
DOETINCHEM, the Netherlands - Ronald van Klooster is passionate about
the opportunities new marketing technologies can bring to brands. He is
the co-founder of Maxlead (www.maxlead.com), a consultancy specialis-
ing in online marketing for suppliers operating with dealer channels. He
is a keynote speaker at the World Cycling Forum; the Conference on con-
sumer centricity & increasing speed to market taking place 7 and 8 June
in Porto, Portugal. At the conference he will be providing hands-on-advice
on how suppliers/brands can transform digitally in their dealer opera-
tions. You can still sign up for the conference at worldcyclingforum.org.
Jack Oortwijn With that competition in mind – is a distri-
bution strategy operating through dealers
At the World Cycling Forum you will speak still a commercially viable and sustainable
about the new realities in retail. What option?
does that look like? “The dealer channel must make itself indispen-
“Consumers used to be easy to reach. News- sable. If it does not, it may very well happen that
papers, television or radio, only three media this channel ceases to exist. Links in the value
channels. Over the past 10 years, this has chain like dealers are already being deleted.
quickly changed through the internet. It pro- This disintermediation trend is also happening
vides a growing number of contact options to in the bicycle and e-bike sector. For instance, by
reach the consumer. an e-bike brand named Stella, successfully op- Ronald van Klooster: ‘The dealer channel must make itself indispensable. If it does not, it may very well happen
Technology and data are becoming increas- erating in Holland. It offers straightforward on- that this channel ceases to exist.’ Photo: Maxlead
ingly important for reaching consumers at the line products (and offline), supported by lots of
right time in the right media channel. For advertising, and consumers love it. But, as long ers often lack the skills to do that effectively. On- diately. IT tools are able to track dealers’ out-
each industry those contact options, also as the bicycle manufacturers continue to make line marketing, dealer portals and experience bound performance and can make that perfor-
called touch points, are different. For bicycle complex (electric) bikes, the retail channel is centres generate leads. These leads to consum- mance transparent to dealers. It also offers
brands, reaching the consumer has also be- needed.” ers that have shown online their interest in par- suppliers/brands an insight into which leads are
come fragmented and harder. The playing ticular products will be passed on by the sup- well followed by their dealers. It offers the pos-
field in which the fight for consumers is tak- What are your views on the future of pliers/brands to their dealers. Many times it’s sibility for suppliers/brands to select dealers on
ing place is becoming more and more crowd- retailing bicycles and e-bikes? there where it goes wrong. In particular, in sec- their outbound performance. And, for instance,
ed. The internet forces brands to make choic- “Brands are putting more money and effort in tors that operate with dealers which are similar stop providing the ones with a low performance
es on how to survive the competition of the hunt for consumers. Online marketing has to the bicycle business. Experience shows that with leads.”
especially online players.” become a sales tool and much needed as deal- many dealers don’t follow-up the provided
leads. Then the supplier’s investment in online How will the business model with leads work
marketing turns into a disinvestment. It raises out for dealer margins?
‘New Role for Distribution Chain in Online Marketing & the question, what the added value of such “What is certain is that margins will no longer
Sales’ dealers still is? That value will be determined by be determined by purchasing volumes only.
the success rate of the dealer converting leads Maybe the Über model will become common-
As well as being its co-founder, Ronald Van Klooster (51) is also commercial director of into actual purchases.” place in the value chain of the bicycle sector.
Maxlead (www.maxlead.com). Maxlead calls itself “Strategic online marketing partner.
We help you generate leads and sales, both in the Netherlands and abroad.” How can suppliers/brands transform
digitally to obtain leads? ‘Online marketing
“Maxlead has grown strongly in recent years and has become one of the largest on-
line marketing agencies in the Netherlands with a staff of 75. We train online talent in
“Do what for instance Booking.com does, where
consumers book their travel arrangements,
turned into a sales
our own Maxlead Academy and are part of the Everywhere Network, a collaboration of making them feel like (they are) avoiding pushy tool for generating
international online marketing agencies. At the end of 2016, Maxlead expanded its operators. Such bookings spur a digital signal
digital analytics team and expanded its activities to a support center in Slovakia: Digi- or cookie to Google Adwords and travel opera- leads for dealers to
tal Analytics Support Center (DASE),” explains Van Klooster. tors resulting in online ads. Another example,
purchasing at webshops means accepting their
follow-up on. But
In the bicycle industry transaction terms and conditions. Accepting there is where it goes
Maxlead’s clients in the bicycle sector are Accell Group’s brands Batavus and Sparta.
Also AGU, Fast Forward and O’Neill. Other brands that Maxlead works for are Happy
them also provides webshops permission to link
an online profile (cookie) to the consumers’
wrong.’
Socks, TomTom, DRU, Luxaflex, as well as other international brands. The total clien- name. This identifies interested consumers and
tele stands at about 100. Maxlead specialises in online marketing for retail channel brings leads. We at Maxlead have installed such
suppliers and claims to have a vast knowledge in this area. online marketing tools in the IT systems of sev- This means that the customer assesses the driv-
Van Klooster’s presentation at the World Cycling Forum is titled ‘New role for the dis- eral customers. What you see more and more er and reviews his or her performance. This
tribution chain in online marketing & sales.’ This is the abstract of his presentation: now is brands trying to entice consumers with could work out for bike retailers. Supplier/
‘Many manufacturers owe their historic success to a high-performance distribution incentives to obtain their online profiles. Mon- brands monitor the reviews and fit it in their kpi
chain (Independent Bicycle Dealers). There are good reasons why the partner channel ey and effort is put into this as online consum- schemes for determining the dealer’s margin.
has always taken a prominent position in Porter’s Value Chain.’ er profiles bring leads with which dealers can This might sound like a fata morgana now for
“However, in recent years the internet has led to a major shift in all industries that reach out to the right consumers with relevant traditional bicycle dealers, but it’s already real-
work with a distribution chain. We see that the distribution chain is losing breadth, information at the right time.” ity in other sectors. However, what has to be tak-
but is developing in depth. The links in the chain are smaller in number but stronger. en into account is that bicycle and in particular
In some industries, the intermediate links between company and customer have all How can dealers follow-up on leads? What e-bike retailing distinguishes itself from other
but disappeared. This phenomenon is known as disintermediation: the disappear- does it require? sectors through the service aspect. But also that
ance/removal of intermediaries between manufacturers and customers. Which distri- “Foremost it requires a well-organised sales service aspect requires a superior online follow-
bution chain strategy works best for your online business? In this presentation, you force. Following-up on a lead means calling the up as this is can provide an all-important com-
will find six distribution chain strategies including examples of companies that have potential customer within 10 minutes. If that petitive edge for dealers in their competition
applied these models, and their respective advantages and disadvantages. Bonus: does not happen then what’s named ‘outbound with online suppliers. My tip for dealers to work
12 practical tips to optimise your distribution chain,” says Ronald van Klooster. performance’, or the chance of converting the that out successfully - put young people in your
lead into an actual purchase, decreases imme- team. They know what’s going on.”10 August 2017 BIKE europe
BUSINESS
Cycling 4.0; migration from mechanical and hydraulic parts to platform based electronics and software
Shift in Industry’s Revenues & Profits
LYON, France - Who would have ical system be the differentiator. Intelligent
thought just five years ago that the electromechanical components will be the driv-
Transformation of Global Cycling Industry
ers with software as the enabler and remote an-
most innovative product line would alytics, upgrades and new apps as the cash-flow Platform in CYCLING 4.0
shift from the traditional groupsets machines.
consisting of front and rear derail- As revenues and profits shift from hardware to software, from products to
services this transformation will lead to a shift in industry leadership, in
leurs, rim brakes, brake/shifting Over 100 million code lines in cars some cases, to new intelligent cycling component suppliers.
Such a transformation in Cycling 4.0 is pictured
levers, cranksets etcetera to an in- in the illustration on this page. While there will
tegrated electric-assist motor/ be many doubters and naysayers all anyone has Intelligent
Cycling
transmission, disc brakes and a to do is look at the same transformation that has Component
Suppliers
push-button electronic shifter? At been taking place in the automotive industry Cloud Servers:
that has also migrated down to the motorcycle INTELLIGENT - Software Upgrades
the core of this transformation is a industry. An average new automobile contains CYCLING - Parts and Remote
CYCLIST CYCLING
migration of value to a platform 50 to 100 or more electronic control units
ENVIRONMENT
COMPONENT
Diagnostics and Service
- Big Data Analytics
based upon electrical and soft- (ECUs) with over 100 million lines of code—re- - App Store
ware-based components. quiring as much as a 2.7 km of wire to connect
TWO, THREE AND
them over several different networks. The pre- IBRs FOUR-WHEEL OEMs/Brands
CYCLING VEHICLES
mium models of the leading motorcycle OEMs
Patrick Keating – Velo Capital contain 5 to 10 electronic control units (ECUs
Partners with over 10 million lines of code-requiring sev-
eral metres of wire to connect over one or more
Bosch, Continental er in this transformation with a total invest-
E
lectrical components are the essential pre- networks. ment over the last several years that we’ve es-
condition for software components and and other Tier Auto- timated to be a minimum of US$50-100 million.
the algorithm will be the most valued piece
of the puzzle leading to the shift to intelli-
Value shift in automotive
Of course, we all know what has happened as
motive Suppliers will As a result, it has dominated the e-assist mid-
motor market and, recently, accelerated its ef-
gent components and to fully autonomous cy- the value in the automotive industry has shift- continue to bring forts with the release of the world’s first elec-
cling vehicles. No longer will a purely mechan- ed to electric vehicles dominated by software, tro-hydraulic anti-lock brake system (ABS) for
making Tesla the most valuable US car compa- innovation to the e-bikes. We have no doubt that Bosch along
ny and fourth most valuable in the world. The global cycling market with Continental and other Tier Automotive
top automakers, their recent market caps, and Suppliers will continue to bring innovation to
2016 worldwide sales are: the global cycling market.
1. Toyota, US$155.88 billion market cap, 10.1 revenue in 2016. The driving force behind the Shimano able to keep up
million sales wave of consolidation is the pressure to keep up As for existing players in the global cycling in-
2. Daimler, (Mercedes-Benz), US$70.35 bil- with the shift toward autonomous driving that dustry, only Shimano really has similar finan-
lion, 3 million sales started about five years ago. cial resources to keep on the same level as these
3. Volkswagen, US$67.24 billion, 10.3 million automotive players. But, it’s been slow to capi-
sales Automotive suppliers bring bike talise on this transformation even though it had
4. Tesla, US$60.28 billion, 76,230 sales innovation the edge with the introduction of its Di2 elec-
5. BMW, US$54.77 billion, 2.4 million sales Of course, the global automotive industry is a tronic shifting in 2009. But, they are improving
6. GM, US$51.45 billion, 9.6 million sales US$5.0 trillion industry compared to the glob- their e-assist mid-motor and we have seen a
7. Ford, US$44.65 billion, 6.7 million sales al cycling industry that by our best estimates is patent it filed in 2016 for an integrated electro-
roughly a US$100.0 billion industry. So, it is un- hydraulic ABS into its e-assist mid-motor. So,
While this transformation of the automotive in- likely we are going to see this level of M&A ac- it’s probably not far behind Bosch in that area.
dustry has shocked the market, it has been over- tivity especially from existing OEMs and Tier 1 Will there be any outsiders such as a kickstart-
shadowed by the acquisition of the next gener- suppliers. Only Garmin has come from the out- er or venture-backed startup that will rise-up
ation in intelligent components in the side like Intel to pay in the millions of dollars and become a player in the global cycling mar-
automotive industry such as the US$15.0 billion in the global cycling industry for the acquisi- ket? Of course, there will be a few of these that
acquisition by Intel of Mobileye – a leader in tion of MetriGear and Backtracker purely for will make a difference out of hundreds we’ve
computer vision for autonomous driving tech- the technology as both companies were pre- tracked over the last five years. So, don’t be sur-
Intelligent electromechanical components are near nology. Startling is the value Intel placed on revenue. But, we have seen Robert Bosch (with prised by it as this disruption is the essence of
future revenue & profit drivers. Photo: Bike Europe Mobileye which only had US$104.6 million in US$85.2 billion in sales) become the new lead- Cycling 4.0.
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