EQUIPMENT SALES SOAR TO RECORD HIGH
Specialist market research and forecasting company, sales of construction equipment in North grew 23% last year.
According to Off-Highway Research, a specialist market research and forecasting company, sales of construction equipment in North America grew 23% last year. This was the highest number of machines sold in the American and Canadian market ever.
The market for smaller machines, such as compact tracked loaders and mini excavators, has been growing a lot recently because of the hot residential building market. Compact machines are in high demand because they can do more work in a shorter amount of time. This trend toward smaller machines has been happening over the last 20-30 years. Today, compact equipment accounts for two thirds of the market. Mini excavators have been popular since the early 2000s, and in the last ten years, compact tracked loaders have replaced a lot of skid-steer loader sales, as well as finding new applications and customer groups.
The housing market has been good for the last two years. But there is a chance that things could change because of rising interest rates. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help contractors and rental companies invest in new machines, which means that there will be more work in the future.
The global construction equipment market rebounded in 2020. This was due to the North American market bouncing back from the Covid-induced economic slowdown, as well as overall global sales increasing by 10%. This growth was seen in all major markets, with the exception of China.
There is a higher demand for construction equipment all over the world than what is currently available. This shortage has caused shipping delays, which in turn causes long wait times for customers. Many manufacturers have already sold out of equipment for 2022, so Off-Highway Research predict that global sales of construction equipment will stay high throughout the year.
However, there are clearly some risks. Inflation and the prospect of rising interest rates have been factors for several months and could be a brake on growth. More recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting international sanctions have exacerbated this situation. It is too early to say how the geopolitical and economic factors will play out.
The company's Global Off-Highway Briefing will take place on March 29th. It will cover the results from last year and Off-Highway Research's updated outlook. More information is available here.