While many French people are already thinking of turning to the bicycle as they approach deconfinement, the sector saw its turnover increase sharply last year. The French market grew by more than 10% in 2019, to 2.33 billion euros, according to the Union Sport et Cycle (USC) federation.
However, the number of bikes sold fell slightly by 2%. But the success of electric bikes, at a significantly higher average price, is driving the market up, even before the start of deconfinement.
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1.750 euros, the average price of the electric bike
The decline in the number of bikes sold had already started in 2018. But the appearance of the electric bike has changed the situation. "The average price of bikes is a little higher because we are selling more and more electric bikes, which have a very high selling price. Mechanically, this increases the average price", explains Virgile Caillet, General Delegate of the Sport and Cycles Union, which published these data.
With 388,100 machines sold (+ 12.1%) and an average price increased by 10% (1,749 euros), it now represents 45.2% of the market in value, according to the federation.
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Aid announced by the government, but ...
With a view to deconfinement, the government decided at the end of April to offer a helping hand to people ready to adopt the bicycle to get around on a daily basis: a package of 50 euros to repair their second-hand bicycle. Repairers will be listed on a platform of the French federation of bicycle users (www.fub.fr), available from May 11.
This aid is part of a more global plan of 20 million euros, which will also be used to finance temporary parking spaces and training to learn or relearn to ride a bicycle. France lags behind other European countries in the use of bicycles as a mode of transport. "If France has the ambition to become a true cycling nation, it must give itself the means by encouraging citizens to obtain it more easily," warns the USC.