Due to the weather in the first half of 2016, the German bicycle industry experienced a rather difficult time. In the first half year of 2017, conditions were quite different. Good cycling weather was very early and even if April was cool and rainy, the first six months of the year turned out to be quite bicycle-friendly. Nevertheless, overall bicycles sales decreased by 2.2% to 2.64 million.  However, in this declining market, e-bikes sales continued to grow.  Industry association ZIV estimates that in the first half-year of
2017 some 540,000 e-bikes were sold. Estimates for the  full year  are at 680,000 vehicles, which would be a double-digit growth of around 12%.

Although the electric city and electric trekkingbike categories are still the largest, the electric drive has now moved into almost all model groups, especially the product group of e-mountain bikes. However, the growth of electric cargo bikes is also remarkable. This vehicle category already makes an important contribution to the commercial and private transport of loads. This is particularly the case in urban areas, where the increasing supply of goods has to be matched with the introduction of
environmentally-friendly concepts and reallocation of space to pedestrians and cyclists.

According to the statistics of the German Federal Statistical Office, the overall imports of bicycles and e-bikes from January till June decreased by about 1.2%. The share of e-bikes in those imports was 21%  compared to 19% in 2016.  Exports grew slightly by 2.3% with an e-bike share in exports of 25% compared to 21% in 2016.

Finally, according to ZIV, the slight rise in sales of component parts and accessories was also due to increasing sales of electric bicycles.

The full text of the press release is here: http://www.ziv-zweirad.de/uploads/media/PM_2017_29.08._Fahrradmarkt_1._HJ_2017.pdf