*** Dorel's Sting-Ray puts big bite on market ***

Montreal, Canada -- 05/30/2004
~~~~~~~~~~
Sales could reach $1.8 billion. This year Revamped version is
rolling out of stores faster than Chinese supplier can produce them
~~~~~~~~~~
Dorel Industries said yesterday its annual sales could reach
$1.8 billion this year, propelled in part by its Sting-Ray bicycle,
which is speeding out of stores in the U.S.

The Sting-Ray rose to stardom in the 1970s with its high handle
bars and banana seat. The company acknowledged its revamped
version is rolling out of stores faster than its Chinese supplier can
produce them.

"When we developed the Sting-Ray we did not know how well it
would sell," said Chris Hornung, head of Dorel's Pacific Cycle unit.
Speaking to reporters following Dorel's annual meeting in Montreal
yesterday, Hornung said the company initially expected to sell fewer
than 100,000 Sting-Rays this year but has sold about 35,000 already
and is determined "to ship as many as we possibly can."

However, the bike's distinctive features - a such as rear
-wheel assembly that resembles a motorcycle - are a blessing
and a curse. While they make the bike tougher for competitors
to copy, he said, they also make it more difficult to quickly ramp
up production.

Retailers have open orders, meaning they will take what they
can get. While the company has been shipping what it can to its
major customers - Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us - smaller
retailers might not get their shipments until the fourth quarter of
the year.

There are no Sting-Rays coming into Canada, he said, because
current-anti-dumping legislation, adopted to protect local producers,
has placed high tariffs on bicycles from China. The company is
considering having the bikes produced in another country as well,
and they could arrive in Canada in the fourth quarter.

Because the bikes are frequently out of stock, it's hard for the
company to gauge the actual demand for them. However,
Jeffrey Schwartz, Dorel's chief financial officer, said this year's
production might exceed 200,000.

Pacific Cycle - which also produces Schwinn, Mongoose and
GT bicycles - is Montreal-based Dorel's latest acquisition. It was
purchased this year to expand the company's lineup of consumer
goods, which also include ready-to-assemble furniture, household
items like step-ladders and juvenile products such as car seats,
cribs and strollers.

Most of the company's goods are sold in Canada and the U.S.
to such large discount retailers as Wal-Mart and Costco. It also
has operations in Europe, which accounts for 24 per cent of its sales.

Company chairperson Martin Schwartz told shareholders yesterday
that it took 41 years for the company to exceed total sales of $1
billion
U.S., a feat achieved in 2003. Reaching $2 billion U.S. will take
considerably less time. The company is forecasting sales of $1.6 billion

to $1.8 billion this year, as a result of its acquisitions and internal
growth.

However, despite all the recent growth, Schwartz said Dorel is still
not well known among the investment community or the public, who
don't realize goods bearing labels such as Safety 1st, Cosco and
Ameriwood are all produced by Dorel. So the company intends to
start putting its name on the products as well and their brand names.
And it is meeting with players in the U.S. investment community in
hopes of raising its profile and the value of its stock, which Schwartz
argued is undervalued.

Dorel's B shares closed yesterday at $43.35,
up 80 cents, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

*PHOTO
Dorel CEO Martin Schwartz on a Schwinn bicycle,
one of the well-known bike brands the company
acquired when it bought Pacific Cycle this year.
http://mirror.media.canada.com/idl/mtgz/20040529/242569-72549.jpg

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