E-bike (e-bike) sales have declined in Europe and the United States in recent years. Recently, a reporter from China Business News learned from exhibitors and purchasers at the Canton Fair that Europe and the United States are still in the stage of destocking, and domestic manufacturers are seeking the growth potential of emerging markets, while continuing to practice internal movement to find new business opportunities.

The full name of the E-bike is Electric bicycle, which is an electric bicycle in Chinese. On the basis of the traditional two-wheeled bicycle, it adds equipment such as motor, electric control, battery and display instrument system, so that users can save more effort than traditional bicycles in the process of riding or climbing.

"E-bike achieve a mixed output of manpower and electricity." An exhibitor said that if the manpower can't ride, add some "electricity". E-bike has both sports and entertainment functions, "making riding more labor-saving", which is also the fundamental difference between E-bike and domestic "small electric donkeys"-it cannot be driven solely by electricity without manpower.

It is hard to imagine that in the context of weak global economic growth, E-bike with a unit price of tens of thousands of yuan was once in short supply in 2022, and it grew rapidly against the trend. It was even predicted by industry research institutions that it would run a 100 billion dollar scale. New track. China has more than half of the world's bicycle production capacity, but it has been spinning in the middle and low-end market for a long time. After stepping into this wave of E-bike boom, it has also encountered weak growth.

de-stocking

Huang Yan, deputy general manager of Ou Kai Zhixing Co., Ltd., which focuses on E-bike exports, said in an interview with CBN reporters that European customers mainly use our electric bicycles as urban commuting tools, while in the U.S. market, local customers have More fun and needs for outdoor riding, including application scenarios such as mountain riding.

Especially during the epidemic, more than 10,000 riding tool E-bike were also popular in Europe and the United States. Driven by the need to reduce the burden of long-distance travel, mountain sports, and daily commuting, Europe's electric-assisted bicycles are developing rapidly. Under this trend, a large number of Ebike companies were born in China. China's mature production system and supply chain system provide strong support for the growth of E-bike overseas markets.

according to data Research by Allied Market, a market research organization, China's E-bike vehicle exports reached 9.9613 million in 2022, up 121 percent year-on-year. According to the European Bicycle Industry Association, the European electric bicycle market will reach 5.5 million in 2022, an increase of 8.76 percent over the same period last year, and the compound growth rate from 2011 to 2022 will reach 20.36 percent, showing a rapid growth trend.

The heat of the Ebike track also made it a hot spot in the capital market. Including the head Ebike sea brand Velotric accumulated financing of more than 0.1 billion yuan, Aventon, SURPANDA, Tenways and other brands have also received financing before, Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, Ali are on the list of shareholders of some brands.

however, soon, drastic changes took place in the European and American markets and demand continued to shrink. In Huang Yan's impression, E-Bike is only hot in 2021 and 2022, and the European and American markets will be weak by 2023.

"It E-Bike this category itself. It is a product with high unit price. Some traditional bicycle manufacturers in Europe and America will transform in this direction, so the local competition is still very fierce." Huang Yan said that in terms of destocking in the To c market, when the E-Bike market was relatively hot a few years ago, there were many cross-border e-commerce companies in China. They made a lot of vehicles and products without their own brands and quickly entered the European and American markets., Making the inventory of local dealers high.

"In recent years, the spending power of people in the European and American markets has been relatively weaker than in previous years." Huang Yan said that during the epidemic, the United States is through the form of institutions to issue consumer vouchers to promote domestic consumption, with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Europe's energy prices continue to rise, as well as the local government's policy contraction, in fact, the overall European and American market consumption power in the local expansion of market opportunities for enterprises is a big challenge.

"At present, the European and American markets are still in the stage of destocking. Merchants in this region are still hesitant in purchasing, and signing orders is not as straightforward as before." On April 15, he Wu, general manager of Shenzhen Kaixin Electronics Co., Ltd., an exhibitor and E-bike manufacturer of Canton Fair, told the first financial reporter.

On April 17, Manuel, a large Spanish retailer with 14 years of purchasing experience at the Canton Fair, was looking for suitable Chinese products in the exhibition hall to expand the European market. "The most important thing is to find all suppliers of the same product within a few days, learn about many new products, and establish links with Chinese manufacturers." Manuel said.

According to exhibitors, Manuel's company is already the leading distributor of short-distance travel tools in Europe. In an interview with a reporter from China Business News, talking about how to promote E-Bike's destocking strategy, Manuel said that the company has a history of 27 years and is very professional in the sales of short-distance travel vehicles and the market industry.

"Product sales are not without inventory, but without excessive inventory. The company is very experienced in handling inventory." Manuel said that in the process of placing orders with suppliers, they do not place many orders at one time like other companies, "but place orders every two months, and then the number of orders is about a few containers, so they will not place orders indiscriminately."

Seek growth

In the case of weakness in the European and American markets, domestic E-Bike and other e-commerce two-wheeler manufacturers are deeply involved in the localization market on the one hand, and continue to expand emerging markets on the other.

"The high level of inventory actually has little impact on us." Huang Yan said that because a large amount of inventory is a kind of "white brand", domestic enterprises should adhere to the brand line and carry out localization.

Huang Yan said that Ou Kai has always insisted on making its own brands, including the company's products, which are settled in mainstream retail channels such as Best Buy and Amazon online in the United States. It mainly takes the brand route and passes through sales channels recognized by American consumers. At the same time, the company has built its own logistics and storage system in the United States in order to better expand locally. "Only this comprehensive ability can meet the continuous cultivation in overseas markets, instead of pressing the goods to overseas customer warehouses at one time, this kind of operation is not sustainable."

No. 9 company (689009), the head manufacturer of electric two-wheeled vehicles, also said recently that the company has expanded its overseas business, mainly carrying out localized operation. It has set up local subsidiaries in Europe and other places, has local employees, deeply understands the local market and consumer demand, and establishes close cooperation with suppliers and retail enterprises. "This mode goes beyond the simple export trade mode, it provides the company with deeper market insight and stronger competitiveness."

In recent years, Ou Kai has continued to dig deep into the markets of countries such as Mexico around the United States and Turkey in Central Asia. "Countries such as overseas regions whose economies are growing at a high speed and then maintain good ties with China are important areas for the company to expand its business growth." Huang Yan said.

in 2023, okai's export volume will reach 0.7 billion yuan, of which 40% of its revenue will be in Europe and the United States, the other 40% will be in Japan and South Korea, and the remaining 20% will be in some emerging countries, such as Turkey, Central Asia and other countries and regions.

Huang Yan told China Business News that the company's main growth points in the first quarter of this year came from emerging market regions such as Japan, South Korea and the "Belt and Road" countries and regions.

"Compared with the first-mover markets in Europe and the United States, the business form of Japan and South Korea has developed faster this year." Huang Yan said that in recent years, the trend of sharing economy has been transmitted from China to Europe and the United States, and then to Japan and South Korea. In addition, Japan is seriously aging, and bicycles with small wheel diameter and no electricity have a good application foundation in short-distance travel of local people. It happens that the company's business form meets the needs of customers in Japan and South Korea. Therefore, this year, it has focused on this big market and achieved relatively rapid growth.

"In fact, we came to the Canton Fair to get better market development opportunities." An exhibitor business person said on the spot that because the Canton Fair platform has more customers from non-traditional channels that can be contacted on a daily basis, and there are more customers from the Middle East, Central Asia and other "Belt and Road" countries and regions. Will be the company's new business growth area, "This is our regional choice strategy to meet the emerging markets that more countries around the world have not contacted in the past, to maintain sustained and stable growth in the size of revenue."

Transformation

China Business News reporter learned that at present, China's E-bike and two-wheeled electric vehicle industry is still in a stage of rapid development. The promotion of the global low-carbon travel concept and the prevalence of cycling culture in Europe and the United States call for a new generation of higher quality and smarter E-bike and two-wheeled electric vehicles to bring better riding experience to users. In addition, under the background of serious homogenization of the industry and high product prices, the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry is facing an urgent need for intelligent upgrading.

at the us international consumer electronics show (CES) held in January this year, company 9 released new travel category E-bike products Segway Xafari and Segway Xyber, which respectively correspond to suburban leisure and travel scenes pursuing sports performance.

the person in charge of the commercial travel/EBIKE division of company 9 introduced to the outside world that company 9 is firmly engaged in independent channel distribution for overseas markets. Recently, Gao Lufeng, founder and chairman of No. 9 Company, said that there is a lot of room in the E-bike stock market. "We still propose a 10% market share target, and this small target must be obtained in time."

it is understood that okai developed its foreign trade business from the very beginning. in the early days, it mainly sold "shared cars" to B- end customers. in recent years, it has entered the overseas shared market with electric scooters, and then gradually expanded its E-bike products to meet the needs of consumers for short-distance travel.

"Before, our NEON series of smart scooters was popular. This time, OKAI ES40 is the top version of the series, with its own traffic." According to relevant sources of Ou Kai Company, the overseas sales of this series of products reached 0.1 billion yuan last year.