Messe Eurobike: Bicycle industry remains careful despite increases

The German bicycle industry produced and sold significantly more bicycles in the first quarter of this year. Despite an increase in sales by 11 percent to 885,000 vehicles in the first three months, the Ziv industrial association warns of the start of the Eurobike trade fair of too much euphoria. The growth could not yet be seen as a normalization of the market.

So the winter time is not exactly the main season for the two -wheeler industry, so the opening quarter is therefore not very meaningful. In addition, according to preliminary assessment, sales in April and May have become a little weaker, so that the association is currently running from 5 percent in the entire spring. Again, more e-bikes were sold in Germany than wheels with conventional drive.

From January to March, domestic production was 760,000 bikes and thus 13.5 percent more than a year earlier. This includes 520,000 e-bikes and 240,000 bikes without a motor. Imports and exports also attracted. But here, too, Ziv Manager Burkhard Stork warns from premature jubilation. He says: “But the forecast for a slight plus around the previous year remains here too. We are through the valley sole.”

The industry had recently suffered significant sales losses after the boom during the Corona period. The number of bikes sold sagged from around 5 million in 2022 to 3.85 million last year. The result was high inventory, sometimes dumping prices and a production that has been reduced in the meantime.

The Vom Ziv is still expecting a tense situation for manufacturer and trading companies for the current year. “From 2026 we see light at the end of the tunnel and thus clear signs of an end to the difficult phase,” said Managing Director Stork.