E-Bikes Offer New Revenue Opportunities for the Automotive Industry

While sales of traditional bicycles have remained flat in most major world markets for the past several years, electric bicycles (e-bikes) are achieving unprecedented growth across North America, Europe, and pockets of Asia Pacific. Guidehouse Insights, expects nearly 200 million e-bikes to be sold over the next 5 years and roughly 450 million to sell from 2020 to 2030. 

The Automotive Industry Is Taking Notice of E-Bike Market Growth

Global automotive and motorcycle manufacturers and suppliers are noticing the strong growth of the global e-bike market and are deploying e-bike products to compete in the growing market. Primary examples include:

• General Motors (GM): In early 2019, GM announced its new product line of ARĪV e-bikes. Two models, the Meld (compact e-bike) and the Merge (folding e-bike), are currently offered in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. 

• Ford Motor Company: The company partnered with e-bike specialist Pedego to develop and distribute the $3,695 Ford Super Cruiser. The high end e-bike has a 48 V battery and a 500 W motor.
• Peugeot: The French automaker offers an extensive line of e-bikes, with more than 15 models available, including folding, road, trekking, mountain, and city e-bikes.
• Volkswagen: The company offers a three-wheel cargo e-bike as a last-mile logistics solution. The e-bike has a range of as far as 100 km (62 miles) and has a maximum payload of 210 kg (463 lbs).
  
• Jeep: In February 2020, Jeep unveiled its off-road e-mountain bike in a Super Bowl advertisement. The e-bike has a powerful 750 W motor and 64 km (40 miles) range per charge. It is expected to be available in June 2020. 
  
• Ducati Motor Holding: The Italian high performance motorcycle maker partnered with e-bike manufacturer Thok to develop three premium e-bikes: the MIG-RR (Enduro e-mountain bike), MIG-S (mountain and trekking), and e-Scrambler (urban). The MIG-RR began sales in Europe in 2018 and is expected to be offered in the US in spring 2020.
  
• Harley-Davidson: The US motorcycle giant introduced its first three e-bike prototypes at the EICMA 2019 Motorcycle Show in Milan. The e-bikes are expected to be sold in 2020 at Harley-Davidson dealers, ranging in price from $2,500 to $5,000.

Additionally, major automotive suppliers such as Robert Bosch and Continental AG have been accelerating and capitalizing on the e-bike market for a number of years by offering high performance and specialty designed e-bike motors, batteries, digital displays, and other components. 

New Revenue Needed in Era of Slowing Car Sales

With automotive sales slowing in most major world markets, a number of automakers are recognizing the need to diversify their revenue streams. High population density is causing unprecedented levels of automotive traffic congestion and a lack of available parking in many city centers around the world. This reality is driving citizens toward alternatives to traditional vehicle ownership. E-bikes are emerging as a primary benefactor of these trends because they are low cost, avoid traffic, require no licensing or insurance, fit into existing bike lane infrastructure, and are easy to park. 

E-bikes are undoubtedly the future of the bicycle industry, particularly in Europe where traditional bicycle sales are already being substantially usurped by e-bikes. In Belgium and the Netherlands, for example, Guidehouse Insights expects e-bikes to surpass 50% market share of the bicycle market in 2020. Bicycle manufacturers, and increasingly automakers, that fail to offer comprehensive and competitive e-bike product lines risk losing the potential to generate substantial new business. 

For more detailed data and analysis on the global e-bike industry, look for Guidehouse Insights’ upcoming Market Data: Electric Bicycles report.