Austrian bike market values rise sharply, volumes flat

The average value of bicycles and electric bikes sold into the Austrian bike market has risen sharply with both categories combined now averaging a €2,095 sales price, up 18.4% in the 2021 data.

Tracked by VSSO, the marketplace was buoyed by greater spend on bicycles to the tune of €1,289, on average and €3,410 for electric bike sales. These average sale valuations were up 16% and 7%, respectively year-to-year. With price rises having filtered through it is difficult to conclusively say that Austrian’s are willingly spending more, but the news will be nonetheless encouraging for those invested in the marketplace.

The value surge is in large part down to a 45% market share for electric bike sales, which pins Austria down as the DA-CH regions strongest market for pedal-assist bikes, according to VSSO analysis.

Overall, a sales volume of 490,000 bicycles kept the marketplace flat (-1.2% year-on-year), something that was attributed to supply chain turbulence and a demand that exceeded what was able to be supplied into the region. It is worth noting that, despite the brief plateau, sales are three-fold what they were in 2015, illustrating the strength of the demand.

“The figures show that the bicycle can no longer be overlooked as an economic force. While we’re talking about strong sales growth, that doesn’t equate to a sales boom — because the industry could sell more if there were more bikes. This situation will remain tense in 2022,” said Michael Nendwich, spokesman for the sporting goods trade in the Austrian Economic Chamber.  

In total, 2021 Austrian industry sales tallied nearly €1.03 billion, a 17% rise. Most interesting is the proportion of that tally now represented by the electric bike marketplace; €756,249,657 was turned over, the majority of value in the market.

As illustrated in yesterday’s podcast with electric bike industry leader Joshua Hon of Tern Bicycles, that reliance on electric bike momentum may be cause for concern. Shortages of everything from semi-conductors to carboard boxes will be troubling those wishing to maintain healthy growth in the next few years.

Electric cargo bike sales were a standout performer in the Austrian bike market data. With businesses latching on to the efficiency gains of cargo deliveries the marketplace more than doubled (136.5%) year-on-year, with 2,200 units sold.

“The demand for e-bikes is constantly increasing: every second bicycle sold in Austria is electrically operated,” added Nendwich.

For those interested in other European territories, AMBE – the Spanish trade organisation – yesterday released record-breaking figures.