European Bicycle Factories Starting to Reopen
In late March Pon Bike announced that they were halting production at their Derby Cycle factory in Cloppenburg Germany until at least 17th April. However they would still be delivering bicycles that they had in stock. As at 20th April, there had still been no announcement as to when production would resume.
Other European factories have also scaled down or halted production completely.
In retail it appears that online retailers are doing well across Europe, however many brick and mortar retailers are closed due to government restrictions. In some cases, they are allowed to continue their workshop operations only.
On 14th April Gazelle and Orbea announced that they would be resuming manufacturing operations, with a range of new physical distancing measures and other staff safety measures to be put in place.
Meanwhile bike shops across Germany have been allowed to reopen from 20th April 2020, also with various restrictions in place. Shops in France remain shut. In the Netherlands the decision to open or not has been left up to individual retailers.