After a busy March, which saw 15% sales growth, first quarter unit sales reached 9,500 units.
It is reported that sales are running high because of a backlog of orders. It is expected that sales will slow down during the year once manufacturers and their dealers have caught up.
Crawler excavators and wheeled loaders showed the strongest sales growth in Q1, up 15%, year-on-year. The biggest selling products – mini/midi excavators –showed the weakest growth with sales up 4.5% above the levels seen last year.
The strongest sales in the first quarter of 2023 was seen in Wales (up 32%, year-on-year) and the southeast (up 26%). Sales in Northern Ireland were down 14% and in northwest England were down by 7.5%.
The construction equipment statistics exchange is managed by Systematics International for the Construction Equipment Association (CEA).
Equipment sales in the Republic of Ireland are also reported. After a 20% lift in March, first quarter sales there were 11% above last year’s levels, which represents a rebound after sales last year ended up 8% below 2021 levels.
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