In 2012, bicycle sales in Europe dropped around 6.5 percent compared with 2011 to 18.6 million units, but bicycle sales outnumbered car sales in volume in nearly all European countries, Bike Europe noted in a recent report. Even the Germans, for instance, surprisingly bought 3,083,000 cars, but 3,970,000 bicycles. Demand for new cars last year reached, in fact, the lowest level recorded since 1995, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, totaling 12,053,904 units, or 8.2 percent less than in 2011. Bicycle sales outpaced sales of new cars last year in nearly all European countries, except Belgium and Luxembourg. Some analysts say that the phenomenon is partly explained by the slump in car sales but might also be caused by a declining interest in cars by the youngsters.

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