Home > Bike Types > Commuter

Throughout Most of Europe, Bicycles Are Outselling Cars

Written by Saris Mercanti
11 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Bikes Outsell Cars in Europe GraphAccording to research done by NPR, new bicycle sales are outpacing passenger vehicles in the majority of Europe. With the exception of Belgium and Luxembourg, it’s never been a better time to commute. The chart above demonstrates the widening chasm between bicycle and car sales in five of Europe wealthiest countries, drop past the break to see a chart showing where  bikes outsold cars the most.

NPR Where Bikes Outsold the Cars the mostThe slump in European car sales ( a 20 year low) is likely tied to the effects of last world wide recession. Here in the US, car sales remain solid overall but remain low among millennials.

Via NPR 
Saris Mercanti
914 articles
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

11 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Cullen Carter
Cullen Carter
11 years ago

I wonder how different the U.S. numbers look, compared to Europe.

0
Reply
The Goats
The Goats
11 years ago

Have to think… If BMW, Ford, Peugeot etc started to make bicycles in their massive factories they might be able to produce killer great bikes competitive with imports….. Just saying.

The Goats

0
Reply
rico
rico
11 years ago

Yeah can we get the same dat afor the USA please?

0
Reply
Teo2408
Teo2408
11 years ago

@ The Goats

Peugeot makes bikes 😉

http://www.peugeot.com/en/products-services/cycles

0
Reply
Yetiman
Yetiman
11 years ago

Hooray…less fat people 🙂

0
Reply
Lancelot
Lancelot
11 years ago

Makes sense. I own 1 car and 7 bikes.

0
Reply
Miikmac
Miikmac
11 years ago

@teo2408
I hope you get a free pepper grinder with each E-bike!

0
Reply
Sardinian rider
Sardinian rider
11 years ago

Numbers in Italy and Spain are not that dramatic. Of course here in Italy ( and Spain) the 3rd world country mentality plays a big role. No matter how bad the car market it may be I keep seeing new licenses plates popping up all over the place,it’s no more SUV’s but rather small cars,still brand spanking new cars,go figure.

0
Reply
GHIRL
GHIRL
11 years ago

I see “Europe” does not include Ireland? Though I would say bicycle sales are probably higher than new cars as the economy has collapsed here. The trade in used cars is still very high, and would easily outstrip bicycle sales.
Ireland is as much in love with the motor car as the U.S, so other than the cycling nations of Holland, and Germany I would say the above graphs look nice but the car is still very much King!

0
Reply
Statistician
Statistician
11 years ago

There’s a broad assumption with this that the bike are being used for commuting purposes. Two vastly different products and price tags and user groups, think how many of these purchases are from department stores. All the numbers really show is people are driving older cars and not that more people are commuting by bike with less cars in the road.

I’m sure more books are sold each year than televisions but that doesn’t mean people are reading more and watching less tv

That’s my pessimistic 2c

0
Reply
David French
David French
11 years ago

I have a theory… Modern cars are boring. They have no style, no soul. They are all lifeless boxes devoid of feeling with more and more technology that to everyone just screams “MARKETING BULLWA**” to everyone.

So maybe people are just keeping their old cars for longer. No bad thing since from my own experience more modern cars seem to actually use more fuel and cost a ton to repair when they frequently go wrong.

0
Reply

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.