CEMA: DEMAND FOR TRACTORS STABLE BUT INDUSTRY BAROMETER INDICATES RECESSION

PRESS RELEASE...

Stable year for tractor registrations in 2019...

Demand for tractors remains stable, but industry barometer indicates recession...

Brussels, 09 March 2020 

Overall, some 191,587 “tractors” were registered across Europe in the full year 2019, according to numbers sourced from national authorities. Of these registrations, 43,642 vehicles were 37kW (50 hp) and under, and 147,945 were 38kW and above. CEMA considers that 154,321 of these vehicles are agricultural tractors, the rest being quads, telehandlers or other equipment.

Corrections are significant (i.e. more than half of registrations) in countries such as Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Luxemburg, Estonia and Switzerland. An overview of the total tractor registrations can be found in the annex. Agricultural tractor registrations for the full year increased by around 5% in comparison with 2018. One should however remember that registrations in 2018 were negatively impacted by new legislation coming into force on 1 January 2018, which resulted in a high number of preregistered tractors in December 2017 without an increase in underlying demand.

The current increase should therefore take this phenomenon into account, since 2018 is otherwise considered to have been a positive year for tractor sales. Registrations in December 2017 peaked and, subsequently, were relatively low in the first quarter of 2018. When estimating the trend without this unusual peak, the full year 2019 confirms stability for demand in agricultural tractors compared to previous years.

Trends per power categories... 

When comparing the trends per power category for all vehicles, registrations for all power categories increased in 2019 compared with 2018, with the notable exception of tractors above 221 kW (-4%). Overall, the trend by which more than half of all tractors registered are below 75 kW (52% in 2019 versus 51% in 2018) and less than one out of four is above 110 kW (24% in 2019 versus 25% in 2018) is confirming.

Significant country differences... 

The two biggest tractor markets in Europe remain France and Germany. All tractor registrations in France significantly increased by 26% in 2019 versus 2018, with a more modest increase of 5% for Germany. Italy was stable for all tractor registrations (+1%) while Spain benefited from a 7% improvement. After a decrease in 2018, registrations in the United Kingdom increased by 5%. There were otherwise notable increases in Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro, Luxemburg, Denmark and Bosnia Herzegovina and notable decreases in Slovakia, Greece, Lithuania and Iceland.