With 15,672 newly registered speed pedelecs in Belgium, 2023 is the second-best year ever, after the absolute record year 2022. In seven years, the market for new speed pedelecs has increased by +283%.

There are several reasons for this growth: historically high traffic congestion combined with increasingly better bicycle infrastructure, technological advancement (greater range thanks to more powerful batteries, increased safety thanks to ABS, etc.), and a more widespread and increased cycling allowance. The latter has been raised to € 0.35 per km since 1 January 2024 of which a maximum of € 3,500 is free of tax and social security.

Second-hand speed pedelecs achieved a record figure of 6,805 units for 2023. That is almost 20% more than in 2022 and whopping 125% more than in 2021. This success can be largely attributed to the increasing number of lease speed pedelecs that become available and are either bought secondhand or resold. Of course, there are also private buyers who are happy to trade in their speed pedelec for a more modern model.

All in all, new speed and secondhand speed pedelecs reached a total of 22.477 registrations, only 16 vehicles less than in 2022.

However, there is a significant shift in the market: the explosive growth of the leasing segment, whose market share rose to 49.9% in 2023, at the expense of registrations by both companies and individuals. Particularly, individually bought speed pedelecs dropped a lot (-33.3%), but speed pedelecs bought by companies also declined significantly (-11%).

Bicycle leasing offers some obvious benefits for companies such as less administrative burden, no worries about maintenance, insurance, or residual value because everything is neatly arranged for them and for the employee.

To conclude the chapter on leasing, one might wonder if bicycle leasing is following the trend of cars in Belgium. More than half of the fast bikes are leased, and the share of individually bought speed pedelecs is sharply declining. If this trend continues, it will have a significant impact on the organization of bicycle retailers.

This shift to leasing also has an impact on provincial results because now the provinces with the most leasing companies are disproportionately performing well – especially Vlaams-Brabant and Limburg but also East Flanders. Antwerp, which has many private buyers and fewer leasing companies, has lost its longstanding leadership position for just over a year. Brussels remains unchanged, and in Wallonia, we only see declines. The speed pedelec is struggling to gain traction in the French-speaking part of the country, partly due to less developed bicycle infrastructure, lower traffic congestion, and – specifically for Brussels – competition with regular bicycles and e-scooters in the extended 30 km/h zones.

The good news is also that from May 1, 2023, all employees in the private sector are entitled to a cycling allowance, which could give bicycle sales in general, as well as sales of speed pedelecs, an extra boost. This is already notable in the success of the new speed pedelecs that are registered through leasing.

In the Netherlands we observe a different situation: the bicycle market shows a significant decline for 2023 with a total of 4,185 speed pedelecs sold. The speed pedelec market was not hit as hard as the regular bicycle and e-bike market, but many speed pedelec sellers and manufacturers also felt the impact. The level of speed pedelec sales remained below the level of 2021 for several months in 2023.

Contrary to Belgium, the Netherlands offers few fiscally attractive options for speed pedelec riders. For self-employed individuals (ZZP-ers), there are the MIA (Environmental Investment Allowance) and VAMIL (Random Depreciation of Environmental Investments), but the general public cannot benefit from these, and this is reflected in the sales.

The best performing brand in both countries is Stromer capturing a market share of 39% in Belgium and 53% in the Netherlands. Additionally, Klever, Gazelle and Giant enjoyed  growth in 2023.

In Belgium, two Belgian brands are part of the top 10: Ellio and ASKA. With 378 and 198 speed pedelecs sold in Belgium respectively, these young Belgian companies are demonstrating remarkable performance alongside the established brands. A third brand, Spector, had their first sales in 2023 in Belgium.

Source:

1. https://www.traxio.be/artikels/speed-pedelecs-jaaranalyse-tweede-beste-jaar-ooit-voor-nieuwe-speed-peledecs-recordjaar-voor-tweedehands
2. Het speed pedelec jaar 2023: de cijfers in België en Nederland – Speed Pedelec Review