According to the estimates released by Confindustria ANCMA (National Association of Cycle Motorcycle Accessories), 2020 was a record year for the bike market: over 2 million pieces sold, + 14% traditional bikes and + 44% eBikes. The pandemic and the incentives have facilitated the sales boom that has not stopped even in 2021. “Demand is still high this year – confirms Piero Nigrelli, director of the Cycle sector of ANCMA – and on market is double compared to a few years ago. The problem is logistics, ships and everything that Federspedi has been denouncing for months with the hypothesis of a cartel of large companies that have in the meantime restructured shipping lines, changed routes, lengthened times and increased costs. For a container from Asia to Europe, we went from $ 2,000 to $ 12-13,000. An unsustainable situation ». With ripple effects across the entire supply chain. As confirmed by Massimo Panzeri, CEO of Atala: «Since last year the supply times to produce the bikes had increased – he explains – from 180 days we have passed to one year and for some components we are now at 450 days. We are currently ordering materials that will arrive after April 2023 ».
«What we have done as a reaction to the growth in demand – adds Panzeri – it was to increase the orders in advance, then we looked for alternative components but it is not always successful. We have increased the production capacity by 50% but we have not solved the problem ». Because the problem is the pieces, which are not found. «It is a castrating situation – confirms Bottecchia CEO Diego Turato – we have many orders and we are unable to deliver. You cannot use certain materials available if there are also others that you may have already ordered for months but are blocked abroad. Not to mention the tenfold logistics costs, ships, containers, over the years we have relocated everything and now we are paying the consequences. Companies should be encouraged to bring production back here, even if it is a long, expensive, complicated, difficult process to carry out but perhaps necessary ».
«It doesn’t take six months to make a new implant – Panzeri points out – it’s a journey of years, finding factories, machinery, personnel. What should be a very positive thing, the growth of the market, is actually becoming a boomerang due to lack of containers, delays, ships making intermediate stops to maximize their loads. It is not only the delocalization of finished or semi-component products but also the raw material. How do we make bikes without aluminum? ». According to Ancma, what is happening can open up new challenges and prospects for the development of component production directly on national soil, where know-how and skills are concentrated. “A horizon that needs subsidiary support from the government with a decisive intervention on labor costs and with support for investments in a sector that is undergoing further growth and that can still create jobs and value for the country system “.