Figures reveal unsteady bike production trends in Spain

MADRID, Spain – The production of bicycles in Spain increased last year to 353,036 units, 6.1% more than in 2021, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism reported. While the year started with a rise in the value of bicycles made, the end of the year shows a completely different picture.

of 2021, and now the split with the new company, Herrmans Bike Components GmbH, was a logical step.Dan Liljeqvist, CEO of Herrmans Bike Components, looks at the future in Europe with optimism: “This new company gives us a strong platform to keep growing in Central Europe. Our goal is to enable even better support and collaboration with our customers – a direct and easily accessible first point of contact.” The new office, located in Holzwickede in northwestern Germany, is scheduled to open officially in April. Liljeqvist will lead the company as managing director and Thorsten Krüger has been appointed co-managing director.

The quarterly production results show the uneven course of production during the year. In the first quarter of 2022, the increase in units manufactured was 31.6%, to 86,825 bicycles, while in the second quarter, it fell by 3.6% to 86,582 units. In the third quarter of 2022, it rose 7.1% to 95,171 bicycles, but in the last three months, it fell by 3% to 86,337 bicycles. December, in particular, saw a big decline. In the last month of the year, some 26,169 units were manufactured, 10.5% less than in the same period of 2021. These detailed quarterly figures were published by the Spanish trade media, Tradebike&tri. How these production figures impacted total sales in 2022 is too early to say for the national bicycle industry organisation AMBE. In 2021, AMBE reported an e-bike market volume of some 223,561 units on a total market of 1,571,368 bicycles and e-bikes combined. “The bicycle industry contributes decisively to the industrialisation of Spain, creating highquality jobs and new business opportunities,” said Jesús Freire, secretary general of AMBE at the time. In 2021 it was reported that the industry employs approximately 25,000 people, up 13.6% from 2019.

Drastic course of production value

A much more uneven course of the production value throughout the year can be seen in the data reported by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. In the first quarter of 2022, the production value increased by 57.2%, while in the second quarter, manufacturing fell by 11.1%. In the third quarter it recovered 1.1%, but in the last quarter there was again a double-digit drop of 11.9%. The total production value in 2022 was up 2.8% at €255.8 million.