Bicycle production surged in 2014, when it was 75% higher than in 2013 and almost double the 2011 level.
Romania came very close to Poland, Bulgaria and Netherlands in 2014, which make 850,000 to 1,000,000 units a year, according to the European bicycle industry association COLIBI.
Romania is not only one of the major bicycle makers, but also a manufacturer of bike parts, ranking third in Europe after Italy and Germany.
It makes EUR220 million worth of bike parts every year, or 13% of the market. Italy’s production stands at almost half a billion euros (30%) and Germany’s at EUR286 million (17%).
“I see a great development potential on the bicycle market in Romania, as Romanians are more and more interested in buying two-wheel vehicles. Moreover, Romania is a major bicycle manufacturer and we are in talks with major players to supply our stores on the local market,” says Antoniu Nituleasa, chief executive officer of sporting goods retailer Intersport.
The bikes Intersport sells are made in France but the shipping costs are really high, he added.
“Which is why we are looking for solutions together with local manufacturers for volume models.”
The most important companies in the local industry are Eurosport DHS (bicycle manufacturer held by German and Chinese shareholders), Mechrom Industry (Italian-held component manufacturer) and Madirom Prod (bicycle manufacturer held by Decathlon). The ranking was compiled based on the 2014 revenue posted only by companies operating under NACE 3092 “Manufacture of bicycles and invalid carriages” code, which filed their financial statements.
Romania does not have separate NACE codes for parts and finished goods. There are 25 companies under NACE 3092, which posted some 650 million lei (EUR147 million) revenue last year. The top three clearly dominate the market, as their revenue stands at RON170 million to RON205 million and the rest of them see less than RON20 million revenue a year.
The total revenue according to the reports of the companies under this NACE code is lower than reported by COLIBI, but there may be some companies with a different NACE or some that did not file their 2014 financial reports. (EUR1=RON4.4302)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)