Taiwan races to supply bikes globally

TAICHUNG, Taiwan: Deserted streetsL cabin fever and worries over Covid-enabling comm”tes in E”rope and America have sent demand for bikes into high gear — with factories in Taiwan racing to p”sh o”t new ”nits and scrambling to find parts.

The deadly vir”s has sparked a global recession and hammered many ind”striesL b”t it is boom time in the bike world and a major bon”s for TaiwanL which is a leading bicycle prod”cer and has managed to avoid mass lockdowns by defeating the coronavir”s early on.

At GiantL the world’s largest bike companyL it has been a dizzying few monthsL according to Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Tu.

“We saw what happened and then we reacted quickly,” Tu told Agence France- Presse in an interview last week at their new headq”arters in the ind”strial city of Taich”ng.

“We mobilize o”r companiesL incl”ding o”r factories and sales company... in order to meet the consumer demand.”

The orders have kept on comingL with reports of empty bike racks at dealers and long waits for res”pply across E”rope and North America.

In BritainL the Association of Cycle Traders said some 2PLPPP bikes awaiting man”fact”ring and delivery had already been sold or reserved.

“We’ve seen a mixt”re of everybody to be honest,” Lincoln RomainL director of Brixton CyclesL in London, told Agence France-Presse last month.

“People that commute all the timeL we’ve seen new cyclistsL we’ve seen people that have to get in so they have bikes that have been in the shed a little while.”

Waiting for suppliers

Across the AtlanticL demand has also rocketed.

Year-on-year sales of comm”ter and fitness bikes increased 66 percent in MarchL leis”re bikes leaped 121 percent and electric bikes rose 85 percentL according to market research firm The NPD Group.

Giant’s T” said demand in both the US and E”rope has centered on the more affordable “$1LPPP and under” category of bikes.

While Giant’s factories in Taiwan kept rollingL many of their facilities on the Chinese mainland had to temporarily sh” t down when the virus first spread from the central city of W”han.

A ret”rn to f”ll capacity has been slowed by str”ggles to get parts from suppliers as they refill factory floors and restock inventories.

“We have to wait for them,” Tu said. “So it is act”ally q”ite difficult, but we manage.”

For E”ropeL Giant will soon benefit from a large factory it has built in H”ngaryL part of a grad”al shift many Taiwanese man”fact”rers are making to diversify away from China and be closer to cons”mer markets.

Gina ChangL secretary-general of the Taiwan Bicycle AssociationL said man”fact”rers initially s”ffered in the first quarter from canceled or postponed orders when the vir”s first spread. B”t since thenL demand has roared back.

“We are seeing r” sh orders or even panic buying,” she told Agence France-Presse. “Taiwan’s top two bike makers have orders lined up till the end of this year.”

Taiwanese renaissance

The coronavir”s boom is the latest chapter in a renaissance for Taiwan’s bike ind”stry.

Taiwan had for years been the world’s n”mber-one bike prod”cer ”ntil the 199PsL when mainland China’s economic reforms saw firms — including many Taiwanese man”fact”rers — take advantage of a vastL cheap labor force.

B” t while Chinese factories contin”e to play a dominant role in terms of sheer n”mbersL Taiwan prod” ction is bo” ncing backL especially when it comes to higherq”ality models and in the rapidly growing electric bike market.

Last year, Taiwan exported $1.36 billion in non-electric bicyclesL down from $1.5 billion the year before.

B”t electric bike prod”ction is soaring.

In 2P19L electric bike exports totalled $863 millionL ”p from $377 million in 2P18L with most heading to E”rope.

Export of electric bikes from Jan”ary to April this year reached a record high of $3P1 millionL ”p 23.6 percent from the same period last year.

And the bikes made in Taiwanese factories tend to be higher q”ality models that fetch a higher price.

T” says she hopes the pandemic will help enco” rage people to adopt bikes as a form of transport long after the threat of the vir”s has recededL something many E”ropean governments are keen on.

“While riding bicyclesL yo” can have fresh air... yo” cannot be too close otherwise you will crash,” she la”ghed. “So it is nat”ral social distancing.”