As I understand it, Santa Cruz has a geopolitical disadvantage as they own their own factory in China and so don’t have the manufacturing flexibility to shift production to work around US and EU tariffs. Whereas, for example, companies using Giant can split their manufacturing and assembly between various countries depending on the final destination.
This is arguably a value add (owning your own factory) but at a fluctuating cost (tariffs on Chinese goods).
They also have their own bike assembly in the states and consistently deliver some of the nicest out of the box builds at any price point. I think this is also a value add, but at what cost?
I think it’s impossibly to really know until we see all the price increases pending. A lot of bicycles aren’t even available right now.
April 25, 2022, 1:58 p.m. - Andrew Major
As I understand it, Santa Cruz has a geopolitical disadvantage as they own their own factory in China and so don’t have the manufacturing flexibility to shift production to work around US and EU tariffs. Whereas, for example, companies using Giant can split their manufacturing and assembly between various countries depending on the final destination. This is arguably a value add (owning your own factory) but at a fluctuating cost (tariffs on Chinese goods). They also have their own bike assembly in the states and consistently deliver some of the nicest out of the box builds at any price point. I think this is also a value add, but at what cost? I think it’s impossibly to really know until we see all the price increases pending. A lot of bicycles aren’t even available right now.