In 2024, the Taiwanese bicycle industry had a half-billion euro hangover as orders were slashed and production lines came to a halt while flooded markets raced to clear their stocks. At the Taipei Cycle trade show in March, many exhibitors spoke of fruitful conversations with customers. Conversations have at last shifted from focusing on inventory issues to discussing future plans. The most immediate plans were not to place orders – which would be an even more welcome sign for the local supply chain – but to at least discuss new projects.

Single-digit decrease

The beginnings of this rebound can be seen in the latest export figures released by Taiwan customs. In Q1 of 2025, 90,559 e-bikes left Taiwan’s shores. This is a 9% drop compared to the same period last year. Although 9% is still considerable, it is the first single-digit, year-on-year drop recorded since Q1 of 2023 when the inventory issue first began to take hold. The biggest year-on-year quarterly drop was 61% in Q4 of 2023 when 687,000 units were exported in the quarter compared to over 1 million units in the same period of 2022.

Key e-bike export markets

In terms of export markets in Q1 of 2025, the Netherlands, the US and Germany remained the top three export destinations for Taiwanese e-bikes. Not surprisingly, given the tumultuous tariff situation and many suppliers rushing through shipments of e-bikes, exports to the US rose 18% to 27,000 units shipped in Q1 2025 compared to 2024. Germany also saw a slight rebound with a 2% growth and a stable 11,000 units. However, e-bike exports to the Netherlands were down 14% year-on-year and just tipped 30,000 units.

Market value on the rise

Another positive signal that inventory issues in Europe are coming to an end is the freefall in export value, that arose as not only the unit numbers dropped, but also the average price to clear stocks, has also turned a corner. In Q1, the export value of e-bikes leaving Taiwan’s shores rose a marginal 3% year-on-year to almost €92 million. This also marked a second quarter of growth since export value hit a low of €57 million in Q3 of 2024.

Bicycle exports slower to recover

Unlike e-bike exports, the number of bicycles exported from Taiwan is showing less promising signs of recovery. In Q1 of 2025, the export value of bicycles from Taiwan amounted to €177 million, a 25% drop compared to the same period last year. All major export markets except for the UK (+1%), saw significant drops in export value; US -27%, the Netherlands -17% and China -42%. The significant drop in China could also be signalling the end of the race bike trend which picked up in the country in the last couple of years as new export markets were sought to soften other losses. This weakening demand was also noted by Shimano in its Q1 financial results this month.