The chip shortage in the industry has gripped the bicycle manufacturers. According to the two-wheeler industry association, there are now also delays in the production of electric bikes. “With e-bikes, we have a chip problem similar to that in the car industry,” said Managing Director Burkhard Stork. “It’s not the batteries that are missing, but the chips for controlling the battery charge and for the displays.” That’s why there is currently a production backlog, “many e-bikes cannot be delivered.”
The supply chains in the bicycle industry have been disrupted since the beginning of the corona pandemic. “It was bucking before the Ukraine war started, but it bucked relatively well,” Stork said. “We actually assumed that the situation would normalize again within the next 18 months.” But since the beginning of the war, the delivery problems have worsened significantly. “This is also due to the fact that there are no truck drivers.” A large number of bicycle parts are delivered to Europe from East and Southeast Asia – not only by Asian manufacturers, but also by German manufacturers who have plants there.
“In countries with strict corona restrictions such as China, Malaysia, Singapore or Vietnam, many plants have been shut down at times in the past two years, so that components and parts are missing,” explained Stork. “The current lockdowns in China are causing delivery delays again.”