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Merida Industry Co., Ltd (MIC; ) is a
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
-based company with R&D headquarters in Germany that designs, manufactures and markets bicycles globally in over 77 countries. Founded in 1972 by Ike Tseng (1932–2012), the company designs and manufactures over 2 million bicycles a year at its factories in Taiwan, China and Germany. After Tseng's death in January 2012, his son Michael Tseng became the company's president. After making bicycles as an
original equipment manufacturer An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
for numerous other brands, the company established its own brand, ''Merida'', in 1988. The company currently designs and manufactures bicycles primarily for its own brand — and for brands with which it shares financial interest, including the now German brand
Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 le ...
. Merida has been a publicly traded company on the Taiwanese stock exchange since 1992 and is valued as of 2012 at approximately £350 million, making it one of Taiwan's largest companies. The name ''Merida'' derives roughly from the translation of its three syllables ''ma-ri-da'', which mirror the company's goal to manufacture bikes that enable the customer to reach their destination.


History

The original Merida factory was organized after the
Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...
Nottingham factory as the company began by making Raleigh bikes for the North American market. Tseng would later develop his own welding robots to meet his production goals. In 2001, Merida bought 49% of Specialized for a reported US$30 million, with its CEO and founder Mike Sinyard remaining the majority owner. In the past, Merida manufactured bicycles for companies including
Mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to s ...
. In 2007, Merida invested $7 million to renovate its 35-year-old factory in Taichung, without halting production.


Sponsorship

Merida has been co-sponsor of the Multivan Merida Biking Team, with athletes such as José Antonio Hermida and
Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå (born 10 February 1973) is a Norwegian cross-country and marathon mountain biker. She won the women's cross-country gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games and is a multiple World Champion. She has won six World Champions ...
, and of bicycle racing events such as the TransUK and TransWales mountain bike races. Since 2004, the team has been scoring over 30 World Cup wins as well as Olympic gold and silver medals. In 2013 Merida became co-sponsors of the Pro-Tour Lampre-Merida road racing team and changed to Bahrain–Merida Pro Cycling Team in 2017, which is called Team Bahrain Victorious since 2021.


See also

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List of companies of Taiwan Taiwan maintains a stable industrial economy as a result of economic growth and industrialization during the late 20th century, being dubbed as one of the Four Asian Tigers along with Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. It is a member of bot ...
*
Rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investo ...
*
Original design manufacturer An original design manufacturer is a company that designs and manufactures a product that is eventually rebranded by another firm for sale. Such companies allow the firm that owns or licenses the brand to produce products while having to engage i ...
(ODM)


References


External links

* {{Sports equipment brands Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1972 Cycle manufacturers of Taiwan Taiwanese brands Multinational companies headquartered in Taiwan 1972 establishments in Taiwan Mountain bike manufacturers