May 9 (SeeNews) - Croatian IT equipment and consumer electronics distributor and manufacturer M San Grupa [ZSE:3MSA] plans to expand fivefold its annual production of electric bicycles to 50,000 units to meet rising demand, the company's vice president Zarko Kruljac told SeeNews.
“We want in terms of production of electric bicycles and in the longer run to become centre of excellence and one of the largest suppliers of electric bicycles in the EU,” Kruljac said in an e-mailed interview.
“Last year, the MS Energy brand owned by M San Group produced some 10,000 electric bicycles, of which 1,700 were delivered to the local market. “In the European Union, the annual sales of electric bicycles are estimated at five million units and therefore the demand is rising. Separate markets, like the domestic one, are far away from saturation, and we plan to increase production significantly this year,” Kruljac said.
Most of the electric bikes it has produced have been sold in the markets of Slovenia, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria Italy, Greece, Hungary and Romania.
“Abroad, electric scooters and electric bicycles and more and more electric vehicles have become a standard. The future of e-bikes seems promising, and we expect a growth of usage of all electric vehicles. There are a number of reasons for that, people become more aware of the impact of fossil fuels on climate and choose more environmentally acceptable vehicles. Moreover, electric bicycles are an affordable and practical transportation solution, as they are an excellent alternative to automobiles, particularly in the towns, where car traffic and parking could be challenging,” Kruljac explained.
Currently, the company produces 13 models of electric bicycles including city, trekking and mountain bikes. Their retail prices range between 1,200 euro and 2,400 euro. Its bestseller is a folding city electric bike, e-bike i10.
Kruljac said that M San's aim to produce bicycles tailored to the specific needs of each client, who has an option to choose the specific bicycles' equipment.
M San has manufacturing facilities in Rugvica, near Zagreb, where it produces the electric bicycles, and a plant in Serbia. It has currently eight employees in its production unit for electric bicycles, and their number could reach 22 to 24 in one shift. Its current capacity is 130 to 140 bicycles per day in one shift.
M San launched its brand MS Energy on the Croatian market in 2019. The brand includes three categories: electric scooters, electric bicycles, and electric motorcycles. M San is open to talks with potential partners for production of electric bicycles under their own brands, Kruljac added.
Last year, M San Grupa reported a sales revenue of 3.6 billion kuna ($524 million/478 million euro), up 20.3% on 2021. The group's exports exceeded 40 million euro in 2022, with the largest part of them to the EU market.
A significant growth of sales has been achieved on M San's trademarks including the MS Energy brand, LED TV sets under the Vivax brand, and LED lighting MS Lux. This year, the group expects even higher sales of its own brands.
In 2021, M San Grupa issued a debut corporate bond [ZSE:3MSA] in the amount of 200 million kuna ($29 million/27 million euro), which is listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange.
($ = 0.911 euro)