The 1,939 new tractors (over 50hp) registered in March is 13% lower than the 2,223 recorded in the same month in 2023.
UK registrations of agricultural tractors typically peak in March as new registration plates coincide with the start of the fieldwork season and the end of the financial year. Despite the drop in the numbers, the AEA says that last month’s figure is 4.0% above the average for the time of year in the previous five years.
The Peterborough-based organisation also reports that the 2,891 tractors registered in the first three months of this year is 14% lower than the 3,354 units registered from January to March 2023.
The year got off to a bad start with just 475 machines logged in January. That is 26% fewer than in the same month in 2023 and one of the lowest figures for the opening month seen in recent years.
The relatively slow start to the year for agricultural tractor registrations continued in February. While the monthly total of 477 machines was only 10 fewer than in the same month in 2023, it was 16% below the average for the time of year in the previous five years.
In fact, the total number of tractors registered in the UK for the opening two months of the year (traditionally quiet months for the tractor market) was the lowest since 2001.
The latest figures suggest that demand is clearly not as strong as it was in the previous couple of years, but the AEA reckons there are still plenty of buyers out there for tractors.
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