Bicycle maker Merida Industry Co (美利達) yesterday said that its revenue for last month would reach a record high after it solved a material shortage problem early, while it expects steady growth in its electric bicycle sales this year.
“Our revenue for last month will be a nine-year record over the same period,” a public relations official told the Taipei Times by telephone.
The official said on condition of anonymity that the growth reflects increasing orders for high-end bicycles and electric bikes, as well as a steady material supply.
Merida’s revenue decreased 3.25 percent to NT$5.58 billion (US$180.55 million) in the first quarter, compared with NT$5.76 billion in the same period last year.
The company, which has a production capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 bikes per month, said that it has since March been receiving steady supplies from European and Japanese components makers, including Shimano Inc.
The company’s order completion rate this year has averaged 90 to 95 percent, while last month, it filled all orders, the official said.
Merida last year shipped 115 million bicycles, down 7.26 percent from 124 million units in 2017.
Among them, 143,800 electric bikes were shipped, up 53.69 percent from 93,500 in 2017, the company said.
Last year’s revenue rose 15.43 percent to NT$25.81 billion, from NT$22.4 billion a year earlier, with contribution from electric bikes increasing 6.96 percent to NT$6.37 billion, from NT$3.96 billion the previous year, it said.
The company said it expects electric bikes to continue contributing revenue this year as demand remains solid across all regions.
Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大), another major Taiwanese bicycle maker, said that it expects a single-digit percentage growth in revenue this year, compared with a 9.11 percent increase last year.
Revenue for the first quarter climbed 4.93 percent to NT$1.46 billion, from NT$1.4 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The company said it aims to sell 600,000 electric bikes this year, up from about 500,000 last year.
“We expect our electric bike business to expand continuously on robust demand in the European market,” said a Giant official, who declined to be named.
Amid a lingering US-China trade dispute and the European Commission’s anti-dumping duties on electric bicycles from China, Giant has moved part of its production of high-end bikes back to Taiwan.
New production lines in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲) and a new research-and-development facility in the Taichung Science Park (台中科學園區) are to be completed by the end of this year, while an automated logistics center in Dajia is expected to start operations next year, the official said.
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