Taiwan pedals faster to meet up global pandemic demand for bikes
15 June, 2020
Deserted streets, cabin fever and worries above COVID-enabling commutes on Europe and America have delivered demand for bikes into high gear - with factories in Taiwan racing to push away new units and scrambling to find parts.
The deadly virus has sparked a global recession and hammered many industries, but it is boom amount of time in the bike world and a significant bonus for Taiwan, which is a top rated bicycle producer and has managed to avoid mass lockdowns by defeating the coronavirus early on.
At Giant, the world's greatest bike company, it's been a dizzying couple of months, according to CEO Bonnie Tu.
"We saw what happened and then we reacted quickly," Tu told AFP within an interview last week at their brand-new headquarters in the commercial city of Taichung.
"We mobilise our corporations, including our factories and revenue company ... so that you can meet the consumer demand."
The orders have continued coming, with reviews of empty bike racks at sellers and lengthy waits for resupply across Europe and THE UNITED STATES.
In Britain, the Association of Routine Traders said some 20,000 bikes awaiting making and delivery had recently been sold or reserved.
"We've seen a mixture of everybody to be honest," Lincoln Romain, director of Brixton Cycles, in London, told AFP previous month.
"People that commute at all times, we've seen different cyclists, we've seen persons that have to get in as a result they have bikes that contain experienced the shed a time."
WAITING FOR SUPPLIERS
Over the Atlantic, demand in addition has rocketed.
Year-on-year revenue of commuter and fitness bikes raised 66 per cent on March, leisure bikes leaped 121 % and electric bikes rose 85 %, according to market research firm The NPD Group.
Giant's Tu said demand in both US and Europe offers centred on the more affordable "$1,000 and under" group of bikes.
While Giant's factories in Taiwan kept rolling, a lot of their facilities on the Chinese mainland had to temporarily turn off when the virus initially pass on from the central city of Wuhan.
A return to total capacity has been slowed by struggles to get parts from suppliers because they refill factory flooring and restock inventories.
"We have to await them," Tu said. "So that it is actually very difficult, but we manage."
For Europe, Giant will soon benefit from a large factory it has generated in Hungary, component of a gradual shift various Taiwanese manufacturers are making to diversify away from China and be nearer to consumer markets.
Gina Chang, secretary-standard of the Taiwan Bike Association, said manufacturers primarily suffered found in the first quarter from cancelled or perhaps postponed orders when the virus first pass on. But since that time, demand possesses roared back.
"We happen to be seeing rush orders or even panic investing in," she informed AFP. "Taiwan's top two motorcycle makers have orders prearranged till the end of this year."
TAIWANESE RENAISSANCE
The coronavirus boom may be the most up-to-date chapter in a renaissance for Taiwan's bike industry.
The self-ruled island had for a long time been the world's number-one bike producer until the 1990s, when mainland China's financial reforms saw businesses - including many Taiwanese suppliers - take good thing about a vast, cheap labour force.
But while Chinese factories continue to take up a dominant role with regards to sheer numbers, Taiwan development is bouncing back, in particular when it comes to higher-quality models and in the swiftly growing electric bike marketplace.
This past year, Taiwan exported All of us$1.36 billion in non-electric bicycles, down from US$1.5 billion the year before.
But electric bike creation is soaring.
In 2019, electric bike exports totalled US$863 million, up from US$377 million in 2018, with most going to Europe.
Export of electric powered bikes from January to April this season reached a record most of US$301 million, up 23.6 % from the same period this past year.
And the bikes manufactured in Taiwanese factories have a tendency to be higher quality models that fetch an increased price.
Tu says she hopes the pandemic can help encourage people to adopt bikes as a sort of transport long after the risk of the virus has receded, something many European governments are thinking about.
"While riding bicycles, you could have fresh air ... you cannot be too close in any other case you will crash," she laughed. "So that it is natural sociable distancing."
Source:
TAG(s):