UK construction equipment sales show modest growth in Q2
However, sales were still 25% below the level reached compared with the second quarter of 2023
ACCORDING to the construction equipment statistics exchange run by Systematics International Ltd, in partnership with the CEA, retail sales of construction and earthmoving equipment remained on an upward path in June. Sales in June were close to 2,800 units, but this was still 22% below levels in the same period in 2023.
As a result, sales in Q2 reached over 7,500 units compared with only 6,400 in Q1. However, sales in the second quarter were still 25% below the level reached in Q2 last year, when sales were very high in the first half of the year.
On a regional basis, London has been the best-performing region so far this year, with sales at 15% below 2023 levels, while the West Midlands continues to see the weakest sales, which were just under 50% below last year’s levels in the first half of the year, followed by Northern Ireland, where sales were just under 46% below 2023 levels.
Sales in the Republic of Ireland, which are also recorded in the statistics scheme, showed further improvements in June, with second-quarter sales ending up over 8% above 2023 levels.
The pattern of sales for the major equipment types showed that telehandlers (for the construction sector) had become the best-performing product, ahead of wheeled loaders and road rollers, which continue to be the weakest-performing product, with sales this year remaining at 62% below levels seen in the first half of last year.
