Pon Bike sales hit £2 billion, doubling from last year

Dutch company Pon Bike, that owns manufacturers like Cervélo, Focus, Gazelle, Urban Arrow, and more, had another incredibly strong showing in 2022, with its turnover reaching €2.4 billion (£2.1 billion), almost double than its 2021 sales of €1.3 billion.

Pon Bike is a cluster within the larger transport conglomerate Pon Holdings, which marked its 75th anniversary last year. It forayed into the bicycle industry in 2011, and has become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, cycling firms since then. Almost 75 per cent of Dutch people own a Pon made bike, while one in five e-bikes in Germany is a Pon brand.

Pon Holdings revenue, meanwhile, reached €10 billion in 2022, and notably 40 per cent of the sales were driven by its bikes and e-bikes division.

The reason behind the twofold increase in the revenue of Pon Bike, which already owns brands such as Cervélo, Gazelle, Focus Bikes, and Kalkhoff, was the acquisition of Dorel Sports in early 2022, Bike Europe reports.

Dorel Sports results were fully included in the overall turnover of Pon Bike for the first time in 2022, which led to its sales increasing from €1.3 billion in 2021 to €2.4 billion in 2022.

> Cervélo owner to buy Cannondale parent company Dorel Sports to become world's biggest bike manufacturer

The rise of the e-bike market is also responsible for the greatest growth in the bicycle market for Pon. More than 30% of the bicycles sold through bicycle dealers are e-bikes and this growth is expected to continue worldwide in the coming year.

Pon Holdings CEO Janus Smalbraak said: “The demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable mobility is high, and this is exactly where we are leading. Also, the integration of Dorel Sports with Pon.Bike is taking place at a rapid pace, making us a global player in top bicycle brands and e-bikes.”

He also said that investments in cycling infrastructure, particularly in Europe and the US, will continue to give the sale of e-bikes extra support. However, he also warned of some headwinds for the industry, such as economic slowdown and faltering delivery of goods.

Yesterday, we reported that aided by government initiatives promoting cycling as a means of transport, especially in Europe and the US, the helmet market is expected to grow by over $300 million globally in the next four years.

Earlier this year, Shimano, the world’s leading bicycle component manufacturer, declared a record revenue of £3.2 billion. This financial high was despite the signs of cooldown in the strong interest in cycling during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Japanese company.

> Shimano’s cycling sales hit record high despite slowing demand

The trend of economic slowdown was reflected in the sales of a number of cycling manufacturers. We had reported that one of the other world’s largest bicycle manufacturer Giant was facing falling demands and rising inventory levels, while Swedish helmet safety company MIPS suffered a “drastic slowdown in the bike sector”.

In January, Halfords, the UK’s largest retailer of bicycles and accessories, had said that the cycling market was down 20 per cent. Soon after that, the Bicycle Association observed the slump since the Covid bike boom in its annual report, with sales of bikes in the UK dropping to the lowest level in two decades.

As some bike industry forecasts looked bleak going into 2023, Shimano’s, and now Pon’s results should come as good news. In fact, Smalbraak himself had called for patience and claimed long-term trends such as increased inshoring would be “incredible for biking”, in an interview with Bike Europe. 

Smalbraak, after the news of Pon’s record sales broke, added that his company has already started the year with full order books for its automotive, bike and equipment & power divisions, so maybe it’s not going to be all doom and gloom for the cycling industry after all.