Thursday, 28 March 2024
Electric BikesFeaturedNews

“One in three” new bikes is electric, says Netherlands trade org

Dutch industry association RAI has revealed that the market for electric bikes grew by nearly a quarter in 2015, with almost one in three bike (28%) sales now featuring electrics.

With 276,000 electric bikes sold, 23.6% more people took home a pedal assist build compared with 223,000 in 2014.

In total bicycle sales turnover spanning both specialist and non specialist retail rose to €899 million, an overall increase of 1.4% on the year prior.

The majority (42%) of sales were classed as ‘ordinary’ bicycles, meaning touring or city bikes, though 23.2% less of these were sold year-on-year.

Children’s bike sales grew by 13.8% in 2015, representing 14% of sales.

The only other growth stemmed from a category branded ‘other’, which includes MTB, folding and racing bikes, representing 11% of the market and up 9.5% on 2014.

Further encouraging signs can be taken from the average sales value, which perhaps reflecting more e-bike sales, is now sat at around €914, up 8.4% year-on-year. That figure has now risen consecutively for the recorded eight years and one in three purchases is now above €900.

Wishing you were a Dutch retailer having read that? The data suggests 70% of purchases come from specialist sources too, with the remainder listed as ‘warehouse’ sources.

The statistics, which detail progress since 2007, place the Netherlands’ adoption of electric bikes ahead of even Germany, where one in eight bikes sold has pedal assist.

The UK market too is beginning to move, says one specialist serving the territory.