The Spanish bicycle industry closed 2022 with a downward readjustment of sales and billing, after two record years. However, in general, it has very positive data on employment and local production, according to the sector report published annually by AMBE, the Association of Brands and Bicycles of Spain, in collaboration with Cofidis.
If we compare the data with 2019, the turnover of the bicycle sector in Spain in 2022 was 45.1% higher to the reference year. However, the year 2022 did not match the sales and billing data of 2021 in several categories (global bicycles, components and accessories), producing a decrease in billing of 6% compared to 2021 and a drop of 13.59% in sales. number of bicycles sold.
Production record, number of manufacturers and employment
According to the study, employment in the sector registered its best year since there are records: the Spanish bicycle industry employs 24,456 people directly (5.32% more than the previous year).
Despite being a year of adjustments, employment and business creation reached record figures. In 2022 they operated in Spain 3,111 points of sale, repair and rental of bicycles (2.74% more than the previous year) and 401 companies (+10.77%)
The national production of bicycles increased in 2022 by 2.8% in value compared to the previous year to reach 255.8 million euros (more than double the data registered in 2019) and are the best bicycle production data by volume billing of the historical series, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The export of bicycles also increased by 76.5% compared to the previous year and triples the data of 2019.
In Spain there are registered 189 national bicycle manufacturerscomponents and accessories (5% more than the previous year) and 8 out of 10 electric bicycles had their origin in European production.
In the words of Javier López, president of AMBE: “The year 2022 has not been easy for the bicycle industry, but the increase in employment, the creation of companies and the positive behavior of the sale of electric and urban bicycles, reflects what the sector can offer to Spanish society: a cleaner mobility, jobs and business opportunities”.
Sales, billing and average price
After two years of record sales and billing, 2022 was a year of readjustment, weighed down mainly by the drop in demand. Compared to the data of the previous year, in 2022 more than 1.35 million bicycles were sold in Spain (13.59% less than in 2021) and the turnover of the sector fell by 6% to 2,714 million euros.
“Despite not having state aid for the purchase and repair of bicycles, as our neighboring countries have, or tax incentives for cycling to work or acquiring fleets of bicycles, the year 2022 has performed better than expected , although worse than neighboring countries such as France or Germany, which enjoy institutional support so that more people have access to a bicycle as a form of daily mobility”, Indian Jesús Freire, Secretary General of AMBE.
However, if we compare the data with the year 2019 (before the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine), the sale registered an increase of 7.6% and the turnover of the sector an increase of 45.1%.
In sell-in sales data, the turnover in component sales increased by 2.51% compared to the previous year, but there was a decrease in sales value in several categories of accessories that had registered exceptional behavior during the years 2020 and 2021: helmets (-16.53%), textiles (-15.18%) and shoes (-6.82%).
Regarding the prices of bicycles, in 2022 there was an increase in the average price (RRP) of 13.93%, closely linked to the increase in the costs of raw materials, transport, but above all to a greater weight of the sale of electric bicycles (with a higher average price) within the product sales mix.
He average price exceeded 1,000 euros for the first time highlighting that of the electric bicycle (2,940 euros) which rose 2.8% and the increase in the average price of gravel bicycles (+42.4%) which stands at 1,589 euros. On the other side of the coin, the average price of the urban bicycle (305 euros) fell by 0.4%.
Regarding financing, the mountain bike segment continues to occupy first place for Cofidis, standing at over 70% of operations. However, this has fallen compared to previous years, due to the increase in electric bicycles that already occupy second place in terms of financing, with more than 16% of the total increasing each year. Road bikes (9%), urban bikes (4%) and children’s bikes (1%) maintain their funding figures compared to the previous year.
In the words of Manuel Santos, commercial director of Cofidis: “We have been promoting cycling at Cofidis for many years with our own team, Team Cofidis, and also as main sponsors of the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation, the Spanish Paralympic Committee and the most important cycling event in the country, La Vuelta. In addition, we also offer our support to specialized cycling outlets, offering them financing tools for all bicycle segments, with the aim of maximizing their acquisition, increasing their sales and profitability, and the figures year after year reaffirm us. in our commitment to the sector”.
Good news in urban cycling and electric bike
The bicycle categories that registered the best sales behavior in 2022 were urban bicycles, which increased their sales by 22.5%, and electric bicycles, which reached 236,183 units sold and an increase in sales of 5.7%. compared to the previous year.
For the third consecutive year, electric bicycles consolidate as the leading category in billing (45.66% of the share in bicycle sales) despite representing 17.4% of sales in units, followed by mountain bikes, which traditionally was the leading segment in billing and which registered 34.5 % in the market share in units sold compared to 28.45% in the sales volume share.
The greatest decreases in unit sales compared to the previous year were registered in gravel bikes (-34.35%) and mountain bikes (-23%).
