300`000 new bicycles - and the trend is rising
(SFZ) Positive: The bicycle is booming! 6.8% more new sales, the mountain bike as the frontrunner, the electric bikes for the first time with significant numbers of units! Clear trend: Mr. and Mrs. Schweizer pedal more in their leisure time than in everyday life. Competition-distorting dumping price imports from China put pressure on quality and safety.
In the bicycle industry statistics, two main categories can be distinguished: Sports bikes without equipment and leisure/ daily bikes with equipment (lights, mudguards, luggage racks, etc.). Of the 299,286 bicycles sold, 188,852 units or 63.1% were in the category «sports bicycles without equipment», 110,434 units in the category «leisure/daily bicycles with equipment». In the total of both categories, the mountain bike maintained its leading position in the buyers' favour. In 2006 almost 140,000 new MTB's were bought, 3,000 more than in the previous year. In the price range between 1,000 and 2,000 Swiss francs, light models with fork suspension and rear rigid frame (hardtails) dominated, while from 2,000 Swiss francs upwards the more technically sophisticated high-tech types with full suspension, so-called «fully». Racing bikes and cross bikes are also sports bikes without equipment, with 13,000 and 10,800 units sold respectively, slightly less than in 2005. Among the bikes with equipment, city bikes with large 28-inch wheels (59,000 units) sold best, followed by youth bikes with 20 to 24-inch wheels (22,600 units) and city bikes with 26-inch wheels (18,359 units). It is interesting to note that almost twice as many women than men decided to buy a city bike.
E-bikes on the rise
For a long time you were smiled at, the bikes with auxiliary drive from the socket. But since last year, they have been rapidly on the road to success: with around 3,200 units sold, the 2005 result has almost doubled. The breakthrough seems to have been achieved in Switzerland as well. E-bikes, which are extremely successful in Far Eastern cities with a market share of over a third, are also likely to experience a boom in this country in the next few years. In terms of pure unit sales, the specialist trade has lost slightly in terms of new sales, but has increased in value. In 2006 it achieved sales of almost CHF 298 million, i.e. an average price of CHF 1,470 per bike, an increase of CHF 3 million or CHF 22 per bike - a remarkable figure in the European environment. It can only be explained by the fact that many consumers are more interested in quality and good services than in bait and switch offers. Aggressively operating discount providers in the lowest price segment offer their bicycles at prices ranging from 199 to 499 francs, and prices in the lower mid-range between 500 and 800 francs are also coming under increasing pressure. However, anyone expecting good quality in these price segments will inevitably be disappointed. The Swiss consumer can now pay CHF 249 or CHF 2,500 for a full-suspension mountain bike. What he gets for it, he usually finds out very quickly!
Duty free Chinese bicycles distort competition
However, the positive result in terms of unit sales in 2006 masks a negative effect: China, the number one producer/supplier, exported 107,000 bicycles to Switzerland, an increase of over 20,000 bicycles. In contrast to the EU states, which impose a massive anti-dumping surcharge on imported bicycles, bicycles from the "developing country" China are exempt from all customs duties in this country. Therefore, such cheap bikes can be put on the market by discounters at rock-bottom prices. These often inferior-quality lures are increasingly promoting the disposable seasonal bicycle! Buying, riding for a season, throwing it on the rubbish heap - a highly questionable development in an age of increased environmental sensitivity! This distortion of competition not only harms the general image of bicycles but also all suppliers (specialist dealers, Coop, Migros, Ochsner) who take responsibility for an attractive level of quality and serious service.
March 6th 2007