Argentine Government Wants to Boost Bicycle Market

Photo: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, president of Argentina, holds a bike while presenting a plan to boost sales of these vehicles. Credit: Argentine presidency press service.

The Argentine government launched yesterday a plan to boost bicycles sales that expects to sell 200 thousand bikes.

Aimed at people with low resources, it will allow them to get a bike for a monthly payment of just 16 pesos, which is about 5 US dollars. In exchange, they will have to turn their old bikes in as part of payment.

Even though the plan should be open to anyone to be more appealing from an environmental point of view --we want more people with bikes in the streets, not only those who already have one--, the good news is this will not only encourage sales of new bikes, but also will bring some movement to the whole segment of small businesses that work with these vehicles.This is one of many plans the Argentine government is launching to encourage consume, which include credits to buy cars and home appliances.

Not so green that may seem, but considering the plans for home appliances also include an exchange for your old equipment, that will eventually lead to green: new products are often more energy efficient than old ones.

Going back to the bikes, we certainly hope this will bring some movement to the bicycle manufacturing segment. With the coming development of the bike sharing system in Buenos Aires, it seems like momentum for a stronger bike movement is building.

Via La NacionOfficial announcement of the plan (in Spanish)More on the Bike Market at TreeHugger and Planet Green:No Recession for Bicycle MakersHot Green Collar Jobs: Bike Mechanics