by Graham Black | Sun 10 Feb 2019
Uk Plant Sales Continue To Grow
Retail sales of construction and earthmoving equipment in the UK grew by a modest 1% in the third quarter of 2018, compared with the same period in 2017. In the first three quarters of the year, equipment sales have recorded 4.2% growth year on year, reaching over 24,000 units.
This continues the upward trend in sales, but at a slowing rate of growth. Overall, this is an encouraging position for the industry, against the background of a weak construction market, which is anticipated to show relatively flat output this year.
Crawler excavators over 10 tonnes showed the strongest growth in Q3 and as a result are showing over 18% growth in sales in the first three quarters of the year. On a year-to-date basis, mini/midi-excavators below 10 tonnes are the next strongest product, showing over 5% growth in the first three quarters of the year. The equipment type showing weakest sales in Q3 was telehandlers and this has resulted in sales for the first three quarters of the year falling below last year’s levels.