Raleigh porterait sa production à plus de 3 millions de bicyclettes par an — L’Officiel du cycle, 24 December 1962

A news item in L’Officiel du cycle, 24 December 1962, page 4, “Raleigh porterait sa production à plus de 3 millions de bicyclettes par an”: Raleigh’s plan to reach 3,250,000 bicycles in 1964 and the threat of a higher American duty on imported bicycles. The heading is transcribed as printed; the text is summarized in Ebykr’s words.

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Nouvelles des Sociétés

RALEIGH PORTERAIT SA PRODUCTION A PLUS DE 3 MILLIONS DE BICYCLETTES PAR AN

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. The news item reports that Raleigh, the leading British maker, intends to raise its annual bicycle output to 3.250.000 units in 1964 by running its works continuously on a double shift. The Raleigh factories, part of the “Tube Investments Co” group, currently work a normal single shift and make 2.250.000 bicycles a year. The paper agrees with Raleigh’s management that more than 3 million bicycles a year is attainable with two shifts, but doubts they will be as easy to sell. One of Raleigh’s main outlets is the U.S.A., where American cycle makers have for some time asked for higher customs duties on foreign bicycles, and the American Government appears ready to grant them; the measure would put the European makers, and Raleigh above all, in a difficult position because of the size of their exports. The American makers want the duty on foreign bicycles raised from the present 11,25 % to 22,50 %. The paper understands, with every reservation, that the increase would apply only to ordinary foreign models that compete directly with American ones, while “sport” type bicycles, almost absent from the American ranges, would keep the present tariff, which would favor several French makers now establishing themselves in the U.S.A.]

[The column head “Nouvelles des Sociétés” is set in a brush script reversed out of a black, cigar-shaped panel; the item has no illustration.]

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