Giant Group (巨大集團) founder and chairman King Liu (劉金標) is to retire in 2017 from the world’s biggest bicycle empire, which he founded more than four decades ago.
In an hour-long interview on Thursday last week in Taichung, 81-year-old Liu said the company would have a new chairman and CEO when he steps down and plans are to be finalized next year.
“There is internal consensus on the succession plan and the candidates are set,” he said.
Liu said that he expects his son, Giant China president Young Liu (劉湧昌), to be in the next generation of the company’s leadership, without specifying which position he might take up.
Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) shares rose 1 percent to NT$245.5 in Taipei trading yesterday, while the TAIEX fell 0.2 percent.
The baton-passing would be the first since 1988 for Giant, which makes a third of its sales in China, a quarter in Europe and a fifth in North America.
Analysts estimate year-on-year sales growth to be 5.1 percent this year, compared with a 10.4 percent rise last year, primarily due to the slowing Chinese economy and the rise of smaller local competitors. Giant’s products range from high-end racing bikes to starter wheels for kids.
Company spokesman Ken Li (李書耕) declined to elaborate on the succession plans and said any change in management must be approved by the company’s board.
“Planning for my succession is to give the young people a chance,” said King Liu, who, along with his family, owns a 19 percent stake in the company.
The octogenarian said the new leadership would need to know the ins and outs of the company.
King Liu founded the firm in 1972 and built it up from a supplier for US-based Schwinn Bicycle Co into a standalone brand that, according to CIMB Securities Ltd analyst Jack Lin (林泓彥), ships more bikes around the world than any other maker.
“I have to make these plans while I’m healthy,” said Liu, who still rides his bike two-and-a-half hours to or from work each day. “Otherwise we won’t be able to keep up with time.”
When Schwinn pulled its orders, Giant was confronted with the challenge of quickly promoting its own brand to international markets, and the company maintains its dual business strategy today.
According to JPMorgan Securities analyst Dan Lu (呂丹), Giant is the market leader with as much as a 10 percent share of the global sales market.
Giant Manufacturing shares have risen almost 20 times in the past two decades and its market capitalization is NT$91 billion (US$2.8 billion).
As for future operations, Liu said that while he hoped the dual strategy of own-brand and manufacturing for other brands would remain in place, he hoped the new leader would pursue new ideas and not just continue with existing ways of running the business.
According to public statements, Young Liu took the company to the Chinese market in 1992 and was in charge of setting up factories. He also led the effort to build Giant’s brand into a leader in China’s domestic market. On Sept. 1, he was named to the newly created job of chief operating officer.
King Liu said he would continue as an adviser for a period of time after a new leader takes over. He is also to look after a bicycle-sharing program, YouBike, to support the spread of cycling culture in Taiwan.
Giant is hoping to operate similar programs in China and Japan, he said.
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