The Industry Discussion Panel, which traditionally takes place the day before Eurobike begins, is a good indication of how the show is changing.
Panelists at yesterday’s event included Wolfgang Hohmann, a German who owns a bike shop in Dubai, and Simon Schmitz, an official from Deutsche Post who oversees a division that is getting into the business of industrial electric vehicles, from small electric delivery trucks to two-wheeled pedelecs.
One constant presence on the panel is Siegfried Neuberger, director of the German bike industry association ZIV. Because it is Europe’s largest bicycle market, what happens in Germany is important across the continent.
Neuberger said 2018 should be a decent year despite a slow start, with bicycle sales meeting or exceeding last year’s numbers. He anticipates total bike sales should reach about 4 million units, compared with last year’s 3.85 million.
E-bike sales are again driving growth in the overall market, although Neuberger said conventional bike sales are also expected to increase this year.
After an increase of 19 percent to 720,000 units, Neuberger said he expected e-bikes sales to post a similar increase this year to between 800,000 and 900,000 units.
That, he noted, would put Germany on the brink of reaching a significant milestone in 2019: the first year e-bike sales top one million units.
Wolfgang Hohmann, founder and director of Wolfi’s Bike Shop in Dubai, said cycling is beginning to take off in popularity, thanks in part to interest from Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and members of the royal family.
It’s an interesting market. Many expats who have a cycling background live in Dubai and have continued cycling. But Dubai natives don’t have a history of riding bikes, so they are often learning to ride as adults.
Because Dubai is rather liberal among the Gulf states, “women are allowed to do most everything that men are allowed to do,” Hohmann said — including cycling. There are women’s racing and triathlon teams along with many female recreational riders.
One advantage of living in a place where one person controls the government is that decisions can be made quickly. For example, Hohmann said cycling enthusiasts suggested that Dubai open the course that it uses for Formula One races to cyclists.
“It was done in a matter of days,” he said. Authorities opened the course on a Sunday through Tuesday, and thousands of people went to ride their bikes.
This year’s Eurobike is emphasizing electric mobility, and Deutsche Post’s Schmitz spoke about the potential this market holds.
Deutsche Post is working to move toward cleaner vehicles for its letter and parcel deliveries and has developed two- and three-wheeled pedelecs for letter carriers. But when its manufacturing partner Mifa went bankrupt, the company had to scramble to find a new manufacturer.
It ended up building the vehicles itself, and now the Deutsche Post StreetScooter A1-718 division is becoming an important business in its own right.
But it’s also looking to become a supplier to other businesses that need specialized electric vehicles, from two-wheeled pedelecs to small electric cargo vans. At Eurobike, StreetScooter is looking not only for customers, but for distributors and suppliers it can work with as it looks to expand.