Images of the 2007 ride show his round belly pressing against his jersey, his face locked in a scowl. He trained for six months, but admits that was not enough.
“I was 73, and I thought if I don’t ride now, I’ll never be able to do it.” So he took up the film’s challenge, planning a circumnavigation of Taiwan. “I saw the film and thought, that line, it’s criticizing me, isn’t it?” Mr. “With some things, if you don’t do them now, you might never do them in your life,” was its most often repeated line. Liu’s transformation, and that of many of his cycling compatriots, was motivated somewhat unexpectedly by a 2007 film, “ Island Etude,” about a young man who bicycles around Taiwan. His encouragement and commitment is a driving force for people to follow.” “He’s showing that even people his age can do this. for his company, but he’s not only doing it for that,” said Ho-chen Tan, former chairman of Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest phone company, and a regular cyclist. Liu, the answer is not just selling more Giant products (though his cycling advocacy campaign certainly helps with that), but focusing on how bicycles can reduce pollution, make people healthier and help cities function better.
With those successes come new questions about whether those businesses can continue to lead and innovate.įor Mr. Once a workshop to the world, anonymously churning out bikes, cellphones and computers for big-name foreign companies, Taiwan now has firms like Giant, HTC and Acer that have become global brands in their own right. His evolution from a small-town tinkerer to an industry titan reflects greater shifts of Taiwan and its economy. Since 2007, bicycle sales on Taiwan have surged, bike lanes and paths have been expanded, and the island’s two largest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung, have launched bike-share programs. “I have a mission to make Taiwan a capital of cycling,” he said. Trim and tan from daily rides, with close-cropped gray hair and a heart rate monitor strapped to his wrist, he has become the public face of a cycling boom on Taiwan. But after four decades of building bikes by the millions, he’s finally started to enjoy them. Liu still puts in 10-hour days as Giant’s chairman.
The company sells bikes under its own name and makes them for major brands like Trek, Scott and Colnago.Īt 79, Mr. Its factories in Taiwan, China and the Netherlands churned out 6.3 million bicycles last year, generating revenue of $1.8 billion. Giant is the world’s largest bike manufacturer by revenue. The main reason he took one of his new products for a spin was to make sure everything worked.Īfter decades of struggles, it has. But for years its founder, King Liu, was never big on pedaling around to enjoy the scenery. TAICHUNG, TAIWAN - THE bicycle maker Giant Manufacturing Company was established amid green rice paddies and earth-god temples, a short ride from the roar of the South China Sea.
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