|
skyjet
|
 |
« on: December 06, 2008, 01:46:37 AM » |
|
China leads the way in annual production of bicycles - some 87 million units last year. As the world economy flies by the seat of its pants, the Chinese, it seems, are cycling on theirs - there is one bicycle for every 15 people there. Moreover, China has increased its production (the only country to do so) almost threefold over the past 10 years. Even neighbouring Taiwan, coming in second, has seen its production halve since the 1990s.
Much of this can be attributed to outsourcing, as countries relocate their manufacturing to take advantage of China's low costs. So, as Beijing's industrial revolution vaults upwards on the handlebars of the rest of the world, the west's output dwindles - Italy leads the European contingent with a mere 2.5 million bicycles.
And in last place, riding in rather shakily, is the US, a country of 300 million people. Its own production has slumped from a high of six million 10 years ago to around 300,000 today, which works out at one bike for every 101 Americans.
|
