For 2022, a total of 834 thousand conventional and electric bicycles were exported from Bulgaria.
German company Technibike has decided to transfer the production of electric bicycles to the Plovdiv-based company Leader-96, says Capital. The company’s models HoheAcht, PYRO and Cooper Bikes are already in production at the new plant of the subsidiary “E-velox”, which is the product of an investment of BGN 50 million. The companies expect that the production capacity will be 300 thousand bicycles per year.
The German company was impressed by the quality of the production of the Plovdiv base and decided to close its factory in Staßfurt. The overall shift of the production activity to Plovdiv will be carried out by the end of the year. The reasons, which Technibike shared with Capital, are that production conditions in Germany have worsened since the pandemic, and energy prices are significantly higher.
A reference by Capital with Eurostat shows that Bulgaria is currently the 13th largest producer of conventional bicycles. However, the focus of Bulgarian manufacturers in recent years has been electric bicycles, which are also significantly more expensive. The largest Bulgarian producer is the Plovdiv company Maxcom, which for 2022 has achieved revenue growth of over 87%, and the increase in orders prompted the management to invest in the expansion of the factory for BGN 60 million. We remind you that in 2022 Maxcom and the Austrian Pierer Group also announced a joint investment of BGN 120 million in a new factory for electric bicycles. The other Plovdiv giant Leader-96 also experienced growth in 2022, and just like Maxcom, the company has also specialized in the production of e-bikes.
Another leading bicycle manufacturer in the country is the Montana-based Cross, which was established in 1995. In 2022, the company’s revenues increased by 60%, reaching nearly BGN 586 million.
According to the Trade Map site, developed by the International Trade Center (ITC), Bulgaria produced and exported over 362,000 traditional bicycles in 2022, with the main markets being Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Source: Capital
