The bicycle as a desirable purchase object
(SFZ) 349`900 new bicycles were sold in Switzerland in 2009, 7.3% more than in the previous year. Despite or because of the difficult economic situation, both sports bikes and city bikes found more buyers and the demand for electric bikes doubled within a year from 12`600 to 24`000 units.
The bicycle literally rode off the poor economic situation last year. More sales of new vehicles, more repairs, more turnover in accessories and clothing. The reasons for the boom: many Swiss people have rediscovered the economical, environmentally friendly and fitness-enhancing pedal-mobile in times of tighter budgets, whether for everyday, leisure or holiday use. The bicycle as an alternative to a second or third car and (holiday) plane - two or three years ago practically unthinkable, today it is well established.
Electric bicycles are booming
The figures determined by the association of Swiss bicycle suppliers «velosuisse» in cooperation with the major distributors and sports markets were collected without taking into account play and children's bicycles as well as Internet purchases, private imports and grey imports which cannot be quantified exactly. The category of sports bikes (mountain bikes, cross and racing bikes) was still the winner in terms of number of units with 194,700 units or a plus of 1.6%, followed by the category of city bikes fitted with full equipment (lights, luggage racks, chain protection etc.) with 131,200 units (+7.8%) and the powerfully booming electric bikes with almost 24,000 units and a plus of an incredible 89.6%.
Both specialized trade and wholesalers benefited in equal measure
Annual turnover from new sales amounted to CHF 383 million, CHF 35 million or 10% more than in 2008. Bike sales by specialised trade remained stable in terms of unit sales, but increased by CHF 20 million to CHF 312 million. This increase is mainly due to the good business with electric bikes. The wholesalers and specialist stores recorded slight growth in the sports bike segment and strong growth in city bikes, and also benefited from the booming electric bike sales. They increased their sales from 56 to 71 million Swiss francs. The total turnover of the bicycle sector, including service, repairs, clothing and second-hand sales, amounted to 790 million francs, and the number of employees was around 6,300. The total stock of bicycles in Switzerland is estimated at 3.9 million, around 3 million of which are in regular use, the rest are rarely or never ridden and spend their lives as so-called garage and cellar bicycles.
February 11th, 2010