2012 Is Second Highest Bike Imports Year on Record
December 2012 continued the nine month unbroken run of bicycle imports being higher than the corresponding month of the previous year. 129,424 bikes were imported to Australia in December broken down into 28,487 children’s bicycles and 100,947 adult bicycles.
December was also representative of a significant long term trend of growth in adult bicycle numbers, rather than children’s bicycles.
In fact since 2008 there has been a small, but steady annual increase in the percentage of bikes imported being adult bikes. In 2008 62% were adult bikes and 38% children’s bikes. This has moved by one percentage point each year since, so that last year 66% of bikes imported were adult bikes and 34% children’s bikes.
December also capped the biggest fourth quarter of bicycle imports since the fourth quarter of 2004. The calendar year total for 2012 was 1,357,593, up over a quarter of a million units from the 2011 total of 1,083,516. In fact, 2012 was the second highest year on record, exceeded only by 2007 which saw 1,427,738 bikes imported.
Of course, import figures are not directly linked to sales, and there is no data available to show how many of the extra bikes imported into 2012 have sold through and how many are sitting in warehouses. Although it’s impossible to accurately measure, anecdotally, the level of discounting does not seem to have risen in 2012. If this is correct it would indicate that warehouse stocks have not risen significantly.
However, countering this argument is the possibility that some of the significant bicycle brands that have recently set up direct distribution into Australia have the capital and willingness to increase their stock holding levels compared to those held by previous distributors.
Australian Customs collect bicycle import figures which are then collated by Bicycle Industries Australia (BIA). Full data including comparison tables and charts are made available to BIA members only.
BIA have kindly permitted us to publish summary figures and commentary when each new month’s data is released.
