The bicycle industry in India - pedal for a green earth

India produces approximately 10% of the world annual bicycle production, which is estimated at 125 Million units.

The annual domestic demand of bicycles in India is approximately 10 million units out of which around 2.5 million units is a government demand for the various welfare schemes. Exports out of India are largely to Africa and the less developed economies and negligible to western markets...

Major players in the domestic bicycle industry are Hero Cycles, TI, Avon & Atlas with 40%, 22% & 17% & 10% of share of volume respectively. Most cycles manufactured & sold in India are in the low price bracket of Rs. 2,500 to 3000

The market for the premium or the lifestyle bikes targeted towards the lifestyle consumer is just about emerging. The definition of high end bikes it self is changing. Earlier the high-end bikes were considered as those selling between Rs. 5000 to 8000. However now with global brands moving into the country this definition is also changing with price-points starting from Rs.15000 to as high as a few lakhs!

Not only are the price points changing but even definition of the segment are. Hitherto, cycles were simplistically segmented into gents, ladies, kids and high end. But now the lifestyle bikes are being segmented in line with the global trend that is based on their usage. There are Road bikes, Mountain bikes, Tourers, Hybrids, BMX’ to name a few. Virtually all the big names are present in the country like Giant, Trek, Merida, and Canondale etc.

The demand for these cycles at this stage is very limited but is set to grow at a frenetic pace in future. While the mass-market segment is experiencing a sluggish growth of between 4-6% annually the premium & lifestyle segment is growing at a CAGR of over 30%. The market size for the lifestyle cycles is estimated at not more than 0.25 million units annually but its only time that this segment will form an important part of the industry