Sales of e-bikes have declined in recent years in the European and American markets. Recently, the first financial reporter learned from the Canton Fair exhibitors and buyers that Europe and the United States are still in the stage of destocking, and domestic manufacturers are seeking the growth potential of emerging markets, while continuing to cultivate internal movement to find new business opportunities.
The full name of E-bike is Electric bicycle, which means electric bicycle in Chinese. On the basis of the traditional two-wheeled bicycle, it adds motor, electronic control, battery and display instrument system and other equipment, so that users can ride or climb more labor-saving than traditional bicycles.
(Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)
"The e-bike achieves a hybrid output of manpower and electricity. One exhibitor said that if the manpower can't ride, add some "electricity". E-bike has both sports and entertainment functions, "making riding more labor-saving", which is also the fundamental difference between E-bike and the domestic "little electric donkey" - it cannot be driven purely by electric power without manpower.
It is hard to imagine that in the context of sluggish global economic growth, E-bikes with a unit price of tens of thousands of yuan will be in short supply in 2022, growing rapidly against the trend, and even predicted by industry research institutions that they will run a new track of 100 billion US dollars. China has more than half of the world's bicycle production capacity, but it has been in the low-end market for a long time, and after stepping into this wave of e-bike craze, it has also encountered sluggish growth.
Destocking
Huang Yan, deputy general manager of Euro Kai Zhixing Co., Ltd., which focuses on the export of E-bikes, said in an interview with the first financial reporter that European customers mainly use our electric bicycles as urban commuting tools, while in the US market, local customers have more fun and needs for outdoor riding, including mountain riding and other application scenarios.
Especially during the epidemic, more than 10,000 riding tools E-bike have also become popular in European and American countries. Driven by the need to reduce the burden of long-distance travel, mountain sports, daily commuting, etc., e-bikes in Europe are developing rapidly. Under this trend, a large number of Ebike companies were born in China. China's mature production system and supply chain system provide strong support for the growth of e-bikes in overseas markets.
According to data from market research institute Allied Market Research, China's e-bike exports in 2022 will reach 9.9613 million units, a year-on-year increase of 121%. According to the data of the European Bicycle Industry Association, the size of the European electric bicycle market will reach 5.5 million units in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 8.76%, and the compound growth rate from 2011 to 2022 will reach 20.36%, showing a rapid growth trend.
The popularity of the Ebike track also made it a favorite in the capital market. Including the head Ebike overseas brand Velotric, the cumulative financing has exceeded 100 million yuan, Aventon, SURPANDA, Tenways and other brands have also received financing before, Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, Ali have appeared in the list of shareholders of some brands.
Soon, however, the European and American markets underwent drastic changes, and demand continued to contract. In Huang Yan's impression, E-Bike is only hot in 2021 and 2022, and the European and American markets will be weak in 2023.
"The category of E-Bike itself, it is a product with a high unit price, and some traditional bicycle manufacturers in Europe and the United States will transform in this direction, so the local competition is still very fierce. Huang Yan said, and then in the To c market to inventory, a few years ago when the E-Bike market was hot, there were many cross-border e-commerce companies in China, they did a lot of vehicles and products without their own brands, and quickly entered the European and American markets, making the inventory of local dealers high.
"In recent years, the consumption power of people in the European and American markets has weakened relatively compared with previous years. Huang Yan said that during the epidemic, the United States promoted domestic consumption in the form of consumption vouchers issued by institutions, and with the continuous increase in energy prices in Europe after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as the contraction of local government policies, in fact, the overall consumption power of the European and American markets is a great challenge for enterprises expanding market opportunities in the local market.
"At present, the European and American markets are still in the stage of destocking, and merchants in this region are still hesitant in terms of procurement, and signing orders is not as refreshing as before. On April 15, He Wu, general manager of Shenzhen Kaixin Electronics Co., Ltd., an exhibitor and E-bike manufacturer at the Canton Fair, told the first financial reporter.
On April 17, Manuel, a large Spanish retailer with 14 years of experience in Canton Fair procurement, was looking for suitable Chinese products in the exhibition hall to expand the European market. "The most important thing is to be able to find all the suppliers of the same product within a few days, as well as to learn about many new products and establish links with Chinese manufacturers. Manuel said.
According to exhibitors, Manuel's company is already the leading distributor of short-distance travel tools in Europe. In an interview with the first financial reporter, talking about how to promote the destocking strategy of E-Bike, Manuel said that the company has a history of 27 years and is very professional in the sales of short-distance vehicles and the market industry.
"Product sales are not about not having inventory, but about not having too much inventory, and the company is very experienced in handling inventory. Manuel said that when it comes to placing orders with suppliers, they don't place a lot of orders at once like other companies, "but place orders every two months, and then the number of orders is about a few containers, so they don't place random orders." ”
(Merchants gathered at the Canton Fair, photo by the first financial reporter)
Seek growth
In the case of weak European and American markets, domestic e-bike and other e-commerce two-wheeler manufacturers are deeply engaged in the local market on the one hand, and continue to expand emerging markets on the other hand.
"The high level of inventory doesn't really affect us much. Huang Yan said that because of a large amount of inventory, it is a kind of "white label", so domestic enterprises should still adhere to the route of branding and localization in terms of going overseas.
Huang Yan said that Oukai has always insisted on doing its own brand, including the company's products, are to the United States Best Buy and online Amazon and other mainstream retail channels, mainly take the route of branding, through the sales channels recognized by American consumers, at the same time, the company's self-built logistics and warehousing system in the United States, but also in order to do better expansion in the local area, "Only this comprehensive ability can meet the continuous cultivation in the overseas market, rather than one-time pressure to overseas customer warehouses, this kind of operation is unsustainable." ”
Nine Company (689009), a leading manufacturer of electric two-wheelers, also recently said that the company has expanded its overseas business, mainly for localized operations, setting up local subsidiaries in Europe and other places, with local employees, in-depth understanding of the local market and consumer needs, and establishing close cooperation with suppliers and retail enterprises, "This model goes beyond the simple export trade model, and provides the company with deeper market insights and stronger competitiveness." ”
In recent years, EuroKera has continued to cultivate the markets of Mexico around the United States and Turkey in Central Asia, "countries such as overseas regions where the economy itself is growing rapidly, and then maintaining good liaison relations with China, are important areas for the company to expand its business growth points." Huang Yan said.
In 2023, EuroKera's exports will reach 700 million yuan, of which 40% of its revenue will be in Europe and the United States, the other 40% will be in Japan and South Korea, and the remaining 20% will be in some emerging countries, such as Turkey, Central Asia and other countries and regions.
Huang Yan told the first financial reporter that the company's main growth points in the first quarter of this year are emerging markets such as Japan, South Korea, and "The Belt and Road" countries and regions.
"Compared with the first-mover market in Europe and the United States, the business form of Japan and South Korea has developed faster this year. Huang Yan said that in recent years, the trend of sharing economy has been transmitted from China to Europe and the United States, and then to Japan and South Korea, coupled with the serious aging of Japan, small wheel diameter and non-charged bicycles have a good application basis in the short-distance travel of local people, just the company's business form meets the needs of customers in Japan and South Korea, so this year focused on this large market and achieved relatively rapid growth.
"In fact, we came to the Canton Fair to get better market expansion opportunities. An exhibitor said on the spot that because the Canton Fair platform has more customers from non-traditional channels and can be contacted on a daily basis, and there are more customers from the Middle East, Central Asia and other "Belt and Road" countries and regions, the future will be the company's new business growth area, "This is the strategy we choose in our region to meet the emerging markets that more countries around the world have not been exposed to in the past, so as to maintain the sustained and stable growth of revenue scale." ”
Transformation
The first financial reporter interviewed and learned that at present, China's E-bike and two-wheeled electric vehicle industry is still in a stage of rapid development. The promotion of the global low-carbon travel concept and the prevalence of cycling culture in Europe and the United States call for a new generation of high-quality and smarter E-bikes and two-wheeled electric vehicles to bring users a better riding experience. In addition, in the context of serious homogenization of the industry and excessively high product prices, the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry is facing an urgent need for intelligent upgrading.
At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in January this year, Nine Company unveiled new E-bike products in the mobility category, Segway Xafari and Segway Xyber, which correspond to suburban leisure and travel scenarios that pursue sports performance, respectively.
The person in charge of the commercial travel/EBIKE business department of Nine Company introduced to the outside world that for overseas markets, Nine Company is determined to do independent channel distribution. Recently, Gao Lufeng, founder and chairman of Nine, said that there is a lot of market space for E-bike stock, "We still put forward a market share target of 10%, and this small goal must be obtained in time." ”
It is understood that EuroKera was developed from the beginning of the foreign trade business, in the early days it was mainly for B-end customers to sell "shared cars", in recent years, electric scooters cut into the overseas sharing market, and then gradually expanded E-bike products to solve the needs of consumers for short-distance travel.
"Previously, our smart scooter NEON series was popular, and the OKAI ES40 brought this time is the top version of the series, which itself comes with its own traffic. According to the relevant person of Oukai, the overseas sales of this series of products have reached 100 million yuan last year.
(This article is from Yicai)