Reasons for the Decline of Bicycle Industry in Pakistan

This study is on “Reasons for the decline of Bicycle Industry of Pakistan”. In this report I have discussed about the major reasons involved in the decline of our bicycle industry and suggestions to make it a viable unit of our country. This research is not to solve the issues but it will really help in highlighting the major issues. Looking at the statistics for the number of bicycles and the production figures for bicycles in quite different countries it is noticeable that the number of bicycles is at its highest in the industrialized countries; where relatively few people ride bicycles and most people drive motor cars. It is also apparent that most developing countries (at least in Africa) are forced to import bicycles, as they do not have any bicycle factories of their own. The bicycle factory in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for example, which was opened in 1978, can only produce 60% of the components required. It is also noticeable that there are just as many motor cars as bicycles in the world, and that the rate of growth in bicycle production in the developing countries is very high, while production in the industrialized countries is stagnating. One of the reasons why people have to get off and push their bicycles at such an early stage, and that so little can be transported while actually riding the bicycle is that the gearing ratio is much too high for the rural areas in the Third World. Effective demand for bicycles and components is known to be larger in developed countries, taken as a whole, than in other countries. Demand for these products is, however, commonly perceived as potentially greater in developing countries, again taken as a group, than in developed countries. These springs from the following well-known facts: the bicycle is the cheapest to buy and to maintain among existing transport vehicles; the number of vehicles per person is much smaller in developing countries; and about 75% of the world population lives in these countries.