The sale of e-bikes increased 11 percent (2020: 34 percent) to 5.1 million units, but growth slowed substantially due to weaker consumer demand. E-bike sales account for 23 percent of total sales in Europe due to the wider use of bicycles for personal transportation. This helped offset the slowing rate of growth in bicycle sales during the year.
The sale of e-bikes increased 42 percent (2020: 138 percent) to 420 thousand units but nevertheless accounted for less than 1 percent of total units sales. Growth in e-bike sales slowed substantially due to weaker consumer demand and a higher base of comparison.
Nevertheless, e-bikes still form less than one third of total industry sales. This means that growth of industry sales will continue to be driven by demand for traditional bicycles.
The European and United States markets combined are the same size as China’s domestic market. This means that economic conditions in the domestic China market have a significant significant effect on the entire industry.