Good news for the two-wheeler industry as it prepares to end 2022 with a new export record, crossing the €800 million mark. Existing data, covering the first eleven months of the year, shows that the sector grew by 37% and already exceeded EUR 755.6 million in sales abroad, with France and Germany dethroning Spain as the leading destination of bicycles made in Portugal. Gil Nadais, president of the National Association of Two Wheel Industries, Abimota, speaks of the “good moment” the sector is going through, with “huge demand” from the countries of Central and Northern Europe. The climate agenda also helps, with the growing demand for electric bicycles, products with greater added value.
Portugal has been the largest European bicycle manufacturer since 2019, a position that is expected to be maintained in 2022, with more than three million units leaving national factories. A leadership that does not intend to lose, with planned investments of more than 250 million, until 2025, under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) mobilization agendas.
Gil Nadais admits that the market is “changing a lot” and large assembly plants are emerging in Central Europe
however, cycling is said to be “convinced” that Portugal will “continue to grow at a good pace”, namely because of the “great commitment” there is in the manufacture of components and not just in the assembly of bicycles.
“We have planned many productive and innovative investments to further strengthen the sector and fill some gaps in the manufacturing of high-performance components in Europe, be it frames or forks, for example… The point is that the bicycle an instrument of sustainability and the sector and the most demanding consumers want products with a small ecological footprint. The smaller the better,” says this person in charge.
On the other hand, Portugal continues to attract great interest from potential international investors. “As the pressure to consume products made in Europe increases, there is also a tendency for producers from other continents, namely Asia, to approach Europe to reduce their carbon footprint,” he says.
As for the project approved under the mobilization agendas, the AM2R, led precisely by Abimota and Polisport, aims to “consolidate and expand” the link between the corporate fabric and the regional and national scientific-technological system with aiming to “increase the competitiveness and resilience” of the two-wheeled sector, culminating in the establishment of a Technology Interface Center. With a total investment of 258 million, spread over 64 projects, AM2R includes 34 companies and four scientific entities, a consortium that aims to present 58 new products, reduce CO2 emissions by 31% and create 1114 new jobs, of which 238 are qualified .
The investment, approved under the PRR, follows the projects Portugal Bike Value, I and II, which, with the support of the Compete program, sought to promote the industry in international markets. Since 2016, 4.5 million euros have been invested worldwide in this area, which amounts to less than 700 thousand euros per year. On the other hand, during the same period, exports went from 280 million in 2015 to more than 800 million expected in 2022. Along the way, Portugal now has Europe’s largest bicycle assembly plant – RTE, in Vila Nova de Gaia -, the largest producer of wheels, Rodi , in Aveiro, and the first unit of carbon fiber frames outside Asia – the Carbon Team, from Vizela, the result of a joint venture combining Portuguese, German and Chinese capital -, among many other distinctive investments. And that will continue.
On the other hand, it is time to resume international promotion, which has been on major pauses in times of a pandemic. And this year alone, Abimota plans to hold 15 specialty shows, involving some 40 companies.
The instability of the markets and the recession predicted for 2023 are not helping, but Gil Nadais remains confident. “It is true that entry-level bicycles are no longer as sought after, but on the other hand, the growth of electric bicycles is much greater,” says this official, who believes consumers should take advantage of a difficult time of billing. “It is much more sustainable to cycle than by car, in short journeys. We just need to replace that chip and we can make big savings, which in a time like this, with high inflation, can help the industry.” “, he defends.
And Portugal even lent a hand, as the first country in the EU to lower the VAT on bicycles from 23 to 6% as of January 1, 2023. , soon, of another measure of the OE 2023 that will allow companies to buy bicycle fleets.
Source: DN
