Bianchi's plan to manufacture carbon bicycles in Italy is already underway

We already knew about Bianchi's intentions to relocate its carbon bicycle production, currently in Asia like the vast majority of the market, to bring it back to Italy. Last Thursday, Fabrizio Scalzotto, CEO of Bianchi, announced that the construction of the new factory is already underway and could be the first step in a major change in the sector.

The new Bianchi factory is already underway

The pandemic caused by Covid-19 has highlighted the problems of having production outsourced globally. Almost all cycling brands depend on Asian countries for their carbon model production, and restrictions and increased transportation costs have caused significant bottlenecks that have resulted in stock shortages and price increases.

Although it may seem that the solution would be to bring the factories back to their place of origin, the truth is that the technological gap in production is insurmountable in some cases and it will be interesting to see how it is addressed in the coming years by brands that want to try it. Bianchi has been one of the first and its CEO has announced that the new factory and headquarters of the brand has begun to be built in the Italian region of Treviglio.

The facility will have 30,000 square meters of which just over half will be dedicated to a production center capable of manufacturing more than 1,000 carbon bicycles in each shift, currently Bianchi manufactures 250 a day, and to the creation of a brand museum for tourists. The new production center is expected to open in 2023 and will have 250 workers.

"The key to Bianchi's vision and strategy is the beginning of a relocation process, bringing back to Italy the technical and production capabilities that had been outsourced outside of Europe in previous decades", said Scalzotto. For his part, the owner of Bianchi, Salvatore Grimaldi, stated: "Growing and developing companies is a challenge that fascinates me, and today we are facing a new one: creating in Bianchi one of the most advanced bicycle manufacturing plants in the world. We are proud to have chosen Treviglio for this renovation and for our future. Treviglio will be the home not only of a technological and design factory, but of a leading and ambitious company with a global vision".

The "made in Italy" label is a symbol of quality in the fashion industry and now it remains to be seen if it becomes the flag of a new era in which carbon bicycle production returns to Europe.