2018 Industry Figures: 78% Increase in E-Bike Sales$: All Other Categories in Decline
 

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/stud...s#.XFRtlS2ZMy5

Huge growth once again in e-bike sales: 78% increase in revenue YOY (4% increase overall for the industry).

All other categories showed a decline in revenue YOY, except road and this is only because of the growth of gravel bikes which are still lumped together with road bikes. I'm not sure if they should be.

In summary,

1. huge increase in e-bike sales

2. significant increase in gravel,

3. decline in road, mtb, and hybrid sales

4. bmx sales up slightly but it's the smallest segment of bike sales

5. Overall unit sales are down 10%

6. Average wholesale price of a bike: $467; Average wholesale price of an e-bike: $2K

Time for N+1 from the LBS I gift beer to every year in return for special treatment.

Ducati ebikes are available now, so the time is nigh.

https://images.ctfassets.net/x7j9qwv...et-768x480.jpg

What's amazing is that this 78% increase YOY came even with a 25% tariff imposed on the entire industry! Imagine what sales would look like without the tariff!

The guys at radpowerbikes even LOWERED their prices $200 across the board today to return to pre-tariff pricing!

Perhaps this belongs in the e-bike forum..not enough attention lately?

E-bike market is interesting. It's getting misrepresented in various ways, your post is a great example, and is fascinating to watch. The protectionism Europe is undertaking against Chinese e-bike dumping has been much more accepted by Americans than tariffs in the US on the same. Not unexpected as much of the political divide is fueled by a vocal low-information minority seeking to influence others.

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/inte...hinese-e-bikes

I think tariffs on e-bikes and e-bike accessories should be significantly higher. Luxury goods that are booming in popularity are an excellent tariff-bearer and can benefit other industries such as non-motorized bicycles.

that'd require amending & putting thought into refinement for such tariffs...

With an MSRP of ~$7100 USD, that's actually the cheapest new motor vehicle in Ducati's lineup.

E-biking is becoming general cycling.

More so than Road biking here, now our hire bikes are electric.

I do see more and more floor space being dedicated to the sale of e-bikes at my local shops. Although I've seen an uptick of e-bikes on the road, it doesn't seem like it's enough to justify such a push in sales effort. To me they are really more of a luxury item. I don't get the impression that people who purchase them take them out on a regular basis.

+1

Don't worry, these electric bike thingies are a compete waste of time and won't last. They do everything a bike should not, as in use non-renewable energy for no benefiit to the planet whatsoever. I'm comfortable for people over 70, once they've been vetted and passed OK by their Drs, to be granted a permit to use these ill-begotten means of transport, but, apart from that, what's the point? What worries me more are the scooters and other two wheel devices you see on the pavements everywhere these days, weaving in and out of the pedestrian traffic. These devices should require a licence, and should either be restricted to the roads or cycle lanes.

The other point is, of course, that disposing of these things creates yet another pollutant we could well do without, in the form of the batteries.

gym for ebikers
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d96f1c05ac.jpg

A 10% unit drop in sales YOY is very concerning. When you factor in population growth, it's more like 12-13% per capita.

OTOH, if e-bikes can maintain an annual sales increase of approximately $50 mil, they can overtake mtb's as the industry's sales leaders in just 5-6 years. Sooner than that if they can maintain anywhere near 78% annual increases.

The industry is clearly moving in two directions: huge expansion of the e-bike market, significant decline in other main sectors: mtb, road, fitness bikes.

Several direct to consumer lines of e-bikes have had to rent enormous warehouses to keep up with demand, and several are struggling to keep up with demand, often selling out pre-sales.

I'm not surprised about this. The bike industry seems to be a boom and bust industry.

Open a new segment... and BOOM

Say you have a model 2015, "everything bike". Carbon everything... top of the line...
What would make you go out and buy a 2019 bike?

11-speed really has pretty much pushed aside 10-speed, and has been making huge inroads into the 9-speed market.

Now, I'd encourage a person to reconsider that $5,000 to $10,000 bike purchase. Look at getting more bang for the buck in the used market.

But, that used market isn't picked up by the industry analysis.

And, the used market is already getting saturated with:

• 70's and 80's steel road bikes.
• 90's steel road bikes.
• 90's and 2000's aluminum road bikes.
• 80's mountain bikes.
• 90's and 2000's mountain bikes.
• 2010 DISC mountain bikes.
• Carbon Fiber road bikes.

The industry is pushing new technology into mixed markets to the point where Walmart is selling a $400 carbon fiber bike. :eek:

For those tinkerers, there is nothing that I need to pay full retail on. And, we're seeing used prices crash due to over-saturation of manufacturers pushing millions of bikes into an already narrow market.

DISC ROAD BIKES?

E-Bikes and Drop bar Gravel/Cross bikes are the market areas that aren't over-saturated yet, but that will come very quickly.

A drop in new retail sales may not indicate a drop in use.

This article is confusing to the point of being un-informative because it mixes dollar sales and unit sales. Granted, this company probably sells a more comprehensive data summary, but we don't have access to it. Still, reading between the lines...

Adding e-bikes to the mix contributed to the higher selling price. E-bike sales were up $54 million from the year prior, a 78 percent increase. The average wholesale price was $2,033.

$54m is 78 percent of $69m, so e-bike sales went from $69m to $123m. At $2033/unit, $123m is 61k units. Assuming that retail prices are higher than wholesale prices, it means fewer than that number were sold in 2018.

In 2018, those sales totaled $1.112 billion... The number of bikes sold was 2.07 million, down 10 percent from 2.3 million.

That's a loss of 230k units, at $541/unit.

So the take-home message for me is that in dollar terms, e-bikes are important for the industry because people are willing to pay more for them, but in unit terms, they are not saving the industry from an overall decline in unit bike sales.

Moved to Ebikes from General

Thanks! :thumb:

Thanks, it seems any time e-bikes are mentioned, the, "you should just drive," crowd comes out of the woodwork.

Personally prefer that people ride ebikes if they can instead of driving. OTOH, ebike threads belong in this forum

My brother bought a used, non running Ducati in 1966. It was $150. We got it running well enough that I still have memories of staring death in the face, Whew,.

I'm not doing my part for bike sales. Last year I motorized two bikes. One was a $150 minivello from Nashbar. The other was a Schwinn I rescued from someone's garbage. (I meant garbage not garage). The first one I spent under $500 for motor kit and battery. The second was $170 for motor kit and a $70 set of batteries.