The Bicycle Association, the UK’s cycle industry trade body, this week released the latest UK import and export data to its members, which shows the average imported unit value rising markedly due to the increased demand and cost of electric bikes, compared to ordinary cycles.
The BA say the “value of imported e-bikes is still on a significant upward trajectory” with electric bikes representing 7% of the total value of all bikes imported to the UK in 2016.
BA member, Cycling Industry News, first published headline figures from the BA’s report yesterday, stating that while electric bikes are driving an increase in the value of bicycles imported into the UK, overall volume of ordinary cycles declined 16% in the first quarter of 2017 “continuing a downward trend on the back of a period of oversupply”.
The higher purchase cost of electric bikes driving overall cycling industry growth is a trend seen elsewhere in Europe. Sales revenue in Germany increased by 7% in 2016, due to increasing electric bike sales. In Germany, e-bikes accounted for 15% of bike sales last year.
A spokesperson for the Bicycle Association told Pedelecs: “The BA’s new quarterly reports contain analysis based on HMRC import and export data with some supporting data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The data combines movements between EU members as well as imports and exports from and to countries outside the EU for both bicycles and e-bikes. The Bicycle Association believes this data is a good proxy for overall trends in the UK bicycle market but it’s worth noting some limitations (particularly for understanding retail trends): There is an unknown lag between import and retail (BA modelling assumes 90% within 6 months) and the relationship between import value and final sales price is not known. The data does not yet break down bike/e-bike categories further. We are looking at developing a further work stream to understand these elements better as we look to continually improve the intelligence we provide members.” More information on their code of practice and support for UK electric bike manufacturers and retailers here.
