Giant predicts continued short-term "challenge" for bike industry as profits almost halved and sales down 16% last year

Giant has released its financial report for 2023 and warned that weak demand and the ongoing excess inventory "challenge" have continued to hit the bike industry, with sales down 16 per cent and pre-tax profit almost halving.

The bike brand that last week unveiled the "lightest, most efficient" version of its flagship road race bike, the TCR, predicted that the cycle industry will continue to have to weather the storm of a challenging economic picture, weak demand and excess inventory, but that there should still be optimism about the "long-term development of the cycling industry".

Demand was weakest in Europe and North America, notably for entry level and mid-level products, Giant saying that in comparison the Chinese market "experienced huge bicycle sales growth", however this was not enough to balance out the dip elsewhere.

> Giant unveils the "lightest, most efficient TCR ever" - but is it enough for it to remain the brand's flagship road race bike?

Giant's sales fell by 16.4 per cent to NT$76.95 billion, while net profit pre-tax dropped to NT$4.8 billion (45.1 per cent). The after tax profit figure was NT$3.4 billion, down by 41.8 per cent.

Despite the negatives, Giant is keen to highlight the opportunities surrounding e-bikes, with electric bicycles still the "main growth driver in the cycling market".

E-bike sales made up almost a third (30 per cent) of sales in 2023 and the brand believes the market offers an opportunity to "broaden the global cycling population".

"E-Bikes not only align with the current green energy trend but through product diversification, new innovative products developments and offerings would cater more towards consumers' lifestyle and broaden global cycling population," Giant said.

> Giant launches "lighter, smoother and more efficient" Defy endurance road bike: first ride

Looking ahead, Giant predicted more challenge, uncertainty and risk in the short-term, something a look at the company's revenue in the opening months of 2024 seems to confirm, revenue down 18 per cent in January and 27 per cent last month.

"In the short term the entire bicycle industry would still need to face the excess inventory challenge, the uncertainties and risks from the general economic environment, but Europe and North America markets continue to show strong demands for performance level products and the new cycling culture in China market would continue to support further business growth," the brand said.

"Giant has debuted the 10th generation of Giant TCR as well as other innovative products which received positive feedbacks from both the market and consumers, hence Giant Group is optimistic with the long term development of the cycling industry."

It's a week on from that TCR announcement, the latest incarnation of Giant's flagship road race bike spotted at Strade Bianche days before its formal unveiling.

The latest TCR model sheds 70g, gains a millimetre of tyre clearance and cleans up the front end in a bid to bring the 28-year-old classic up to date, and of course comes with the "lightest, most efficient TCR ever" claims too.

On Tuesday, we reported that Trek was planning to "right size" by cutting spending by 10 per cent and reducing the number of individual products it offers by 40 per cent over the next two years. 

John Burke was quoted in an interview with Bicycle Retailer and Industry News as saying, "These are turbulent times in our business", and he went on to say that the global bike market is "in chaos" with high stock levels at wholesale and retail levels, leading to "significant and continued" discounting.