In a context of shortages due to the rise in global demand, a local company will begin to assemble Scott bicycles in Argentina, the main brand in Europe. It's all part of an agreement with La Emilia, which imports, produces and distributes motorcycles and bicycles under the Motomel and Benelli brands, among others. The initial objective is to locally assemble about 6,000 units annually, all under the supervision of Scott's headquarters in Switzerland. “We started with 5 models, whose prices range from $120,000 to $260,000,” explained Javier Mosca, its Bicycle Division manager.

At a global level, Scott competes worldwide with the Americans Specialized, Trek and Cannondale, “considered the best bicycle brands in the world”, they coincide in the market. In fact, they say that they are comparable to Audi, BMW or Mercedes Benz in the automotive industry. Mosca clarifies that assembly is the first part of the plan, but that "later we will add national components, such as handlebars, seat tubes and grips."

La Emilia entered the bicycle business in 2017. It is not the only one. In Argentina it competes with 25 large manufacturers, including Dalsanto (Raleigh and KTM), Vairo, Osfrei (Zenith and Pivot), Aurora, Olmo, Newsan and a heterogeneous network of wholesalers, distributors and around 5,000 small workshops and neighborhood bicycle shops. The pandemic and quarantines overheated demand, which generated widespread shortages. The same thing happens in Argentina: this year they estimate they will sell 1.8 million units, a record.

Scott already had a presence in the country, precisely through Motomel, which was the exclusive importer of the brand. Emilia has its plant in the homonymous town in the province of Buenos Aires, on the border with Santa Fe. It has 370 employees, of which 35 were trained to assemble bicycles. “Starting next week we will begin shipping 500 units per month,” Mosca anticipates.

The craze for bicycles is a global phenomenon and also in Argentina. Used as a means of transportation to avoid congestion, record demand caused shortages of spare parts and models. Which affects prices. "Aluminum frames increased 15% in China, which is the largest supplier. To that we must add the local costs (dollar supply problems and obstacles to imports)," explains Mosca, which led to "a lethal combo."

Nicolás Muszkat, commercial director of the Japanese Shimano, maintains that in this context “many bicycle stores closed their businesses and prefer not to sell for fear of the replacement cost.” Shimano is of Japanese origin and is the main global supplier of brakes, gears, chainrings and other components. Despite everything, Muszkat believes that Scott's "arrival" to the country is good news. "It is one of the best bicycle brands in the world, which will now be assembled instead of imported finished. This way local developments could be generated. Not the other way around," he reasons.

The world leader is Specialized. The brand has had offices in the country since 2011 and its country manager, Fernando Ferreyra, says that despite all the difficulties, Argentina has a very promising outlook for bicycles. “International brands observe that it is a very small and underdeveloped market, compared to Brazil and Colombia and Chile,” he said. Regarding their brand, with prices between $115,000 and $1 million, they assure that “they ship between 20,000 units and 30,000 units a year.” Specialized, he announced, also has the possibility of assembling in the country in the coming months.

The great obstacle is the enormous distortion of prices, production and dispatch of goods that the coronavirus crisis caused. The large plants, located mainly in China, Taiwan and Malaysia, are not enough to respond to the global overheating of demand. The great obstacle is the enormous distortion of prices, production and shipment of goods due to the pandemic. On this point, Felipe Luongo, from Newsan's Mobility area, anticipates that "there will be a great shortage of products and parts until the first half of next year." The Fuegian company got into the business in 2018 with its two flagship brands: Philco and Battle. This year they placed 70,000 units and despite the difficulties, they plan to sell 120,000 in 2021.

As with clothing, bicycle production is planned seasonally. In the local industry they describe that deliveries usually took 6 months. “The deadline, today, doubled and we have purchase orders against delivery in December 2021,” says Mosca. In addition to that, the “Argentine risk” drives rebranding and tactics to defend merchandise stocks. "In recent months, prices have risen well above inflation and some models cost $2.5 million. Still, there are people who are willing to pay those values," Muszkat summarizes.

Damián Kantor / Clarin.com