CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. (BRAIN) — JW Zhang, who founded e-bike brand Aventon eight years ago, said the company's next step is to open a "highly automated" e-bike factory in the U.S.
Zhang told ChiefExecutive.net that a U.S. factory could compete on price with China due to current shipping and supply chain costs. He plans to open the factory by 2025, he told the site.
Zhang said Aventon's sales tripled in the last year and now will be over $100 million this year, up from $32 million last year. Aventon, which sells consumer-direct and via about 200 U.S. bike shops, employs about 350 people in China and about 70 in America, and plans to construct a manufacturing plant that would move Aventon bicycle production to the United States by 2025.
Aventon's current plant is about 200 miles southeast of Shanghai. He told ChiefExecutive that a U.S plant would have multiple advantages.
"Automation also would enable us to shorten the time of delivery to the consumer," he said. "Today, from sourcing raw materials to building a complete bike and getting it to the customer takes two to three months. We want to be able to provide a much better experience, more customization and shorter delivery times — within a month. With pre-assembled bikes, for most customers we might be able to deliver within a day."
