Shimano, Trek Respond to Covid-19 Impact Upon Demand

Shimano’s shares have surged since mid-March, touching a record now investors see that more and more people will turn to bicycles as a way to avoid congested public transportation. The Japanese component supplier confirms that sales are picking up across the globe.

“People are realising how effective a bicycle can be,” said Shimano’s CEO Yozo Shimano in an interview in the Japan Times. “People are moving away from crowds and looking for space, even in transit.” Like many others, Shimano also took a hit to production when factories in Singapore and Malaysia shut down, but Yozo Shimano is optimistic of a recovery later in the current year.

“The factory shutdowns have forced us to rethink our supply chain. While much of our products are made entirely at a single plant, production that required cross-regional work was impacted during the pandemic.” This will have an impact on the long term. “We want to take this opportunity to revisit our supply chain.”

Meanwhile Trek Bicycle President John Burke told Bloomberg news in an interview during late May, “I have been in this business for 37 years and I have never seen anything like this before. We see a surge in demand across the market.”

“There is definitely a shortage of bikes. Our warehouses are being emptied and all bicycles are now at the dealers. When the pandemic started we thought the business is going to be challenging. However, consumers soon found out that the bicycle is a simple solution for transportation and to go outside. What happened caught us by surprise. Business has been booming ever since.”

You can listen to the full seven minute interview here which includes promotion of John Burke’s new book ‘Presidential Playbook 2020’:

Most of this article was first published in Bike Europe