Indian bicycles are a big hit in Iraq and every month container loads of the two-wheelers are being shipped to the embattled nation from Dubai.
DUBAI: Indian bicycles are a big hit in Iraq and every month container loads of the two-wheelers are being shipped to the embattled nation from Dubai.
The Indian-made cycles have successfully taken on their rivals from China in terms of price and quality to move well in the markets in the UAE as well as Iraq, dealers said.
“We have been selling selling Indian bicycles here for the last 22 years but the sales have seen a spurt in the last few years thanks to the emerging market in Iraq”, Murtaza Hussain, Abbas bin Haider General Trading, dealers for Atlas cycles said.
“Every month we export about three containers of Atlas cycles in completely knock down condition. That would be about 3500 bicycles a month”, he said. “We sell to Iraqi importers on cash down basis as there is lot of payment problems,” he said.
He said there was apparently huge demand in Iraq for the basic model of Atlas cycles based in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which exports to over 35 countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Israel in the region. It is also exported to advanced countries like Italy, Holland, UK, Japan and Australia.
Murtaza said his agency sold nearly 7000 bicycles in the UAE last year. A range of Chinese brands are also available but the Indian two wheeler has stood up to competition thanks to low price and high quality, he said.
The bicycle market in the UAE is likely to swell as Dubai is now planning to devise ways to promote use of bicycles by providing more cycling tracks on the lines of the countries in the West.
Pedalling benefits
- During the past seven years that Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour de France, road bike sales increased 389 per cent, an average 55% a year since 1998. Is that a mere coincidence? Suppliers certainly hope so.
- The increasing traffic congestion in Dubai is due primarily to the dependency on private transportation, which accounts for 55.7% of total conveyance, whereas public transport have only 26.6% share.
- The percentage of cyclists and pedestrians in high-income Asian cities is about 28.5%, in Western European cities is 31.3%. Compared to that Dubai, with a population of 1 million plus has only about 100,000 bicycles. Increased use of bicycles can help ease the traffic problem.
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