WASHINGTON, D.C. (BRAIN)—Exports of Made in USA bikes dropped by 1,288 units through the third quarter, a 3 percent drop. A steep drop in shipments to Mexico and Latin America negated the increase in business with Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Pacific Rim nations.
Overall, small wheel exports with wheel sizes less then 25 inches fared better than larger wheel exports, which were down 7 percent. Shipments of small wheel bikes were up 861 units, and average unit value was up a dollar over last year to $213.
Many small U.S. manufacturers reported that growing sales of their bikes in Europe saw them through a difficult domestic selling season. The export figures bear this out with Europe importing 429 more road and mountain bikes this year then last. However, the average unit value dropped 20 percent to $822.
Sales of frames and forks made a modest one percent gain. U.S. makers did post a 44 percent increase in shipments to Pacific Rim countries and a 15 percent increase in sales to Mexico. And the average value of those frames was up 5 percent, to $94 a kilo. The Department of Commence quantifies frames and fork exports by weight.
—Matt Wiebe
