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Record Results for Dahon in First Half of
2003
Unit volume grows 38% compared to 2002
DUARTE, California — September 2003 — Dahon
California, Inc., the world leader in folding bicycles, today
announced record first half 2003 results. Unit volumes grew
by 38% compared to the first half of 2002. Dahon produced and
sold an all time record high 90,000 folding bicycles in the
first half of 2003 compared to 65,000 units in the first half
of 2002.
"2003 has been a difficult year for the global economy
generally and the bicycle industry specifically, so for us to
post these types of numbers is a credit to our strategy and
our team here at Dahon." stated Dr. David Hon, Dahon president.
"Folding bikes have been a tough sell in this industry
for most of the 20 years that we've been at this but I think
we've finally turned a corner in market perception. Dealers
and consumers are finally realizing that folding bicycles have
a lot of utility and fill a useful niche in the market."
Dahon's sales growth in 2003 has been broad-based, across all
major geographic markets and at all price points. In more developed
countries, the growth has been more at the middle and high price
points. In developing countries like China, the growth has been
at the lower price points.
"We've seen growth in all of our major markets, but the
odd thing is that the reasons for the sales boom in each country
are slightly different" stated Dr. Hon. "In Japan,
a lot of distributors bought boat loads of cheap folding bikes
in 2002 and have had lots of quality and patent problems. Now
they want to switch to a higher quality supplier and that's
where we come in. The same goes for the China market. In the
UK, our sales have skyrocketed because of the London Congestion
Charge and the attendant focus it has brought on alternative
transport. And in the US, our sales spiked sharply after the
bombing of September 11 - more people want to live a simpler
lifestyle and others want the security of transportation that
they can count on in any kind of disaster."
Research commissioned by Dahon indicates that 20% of consumers
would choose a folding bicycle over a traditional bicycle if
performance were the same and price no more than 25% higher.
In Japan, folding bicycle sales already represent 5-7% of the
market and in China and Taiwan, sales are in the single digit
percentages and climbing rapidly. In Europe and the US as well,
folding bicycle sales continue to rocket upward despite the
flat to negative bicycle markets.
"The exciting thing is that as good as 2003 was, 2004 is
shaping up to be a real breakthrough year for folding bikes,"
stated Dr. Hon. "A few years down the road, we may all
look back on 2004 as the year that folding bikes really hit
the mainstream. With many economies on the upswing, the uncertainty
of war and SARS over, our best product line-up ever, and several
major new partners, we're expecting pretty good results."
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