SALES of construction equipment were 30% above 2020 levels in Q1 this year, new figures have revealed.
This was largely driven by sales in March being almost double the levels seen in the same month last year when the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was felt for the first time.
Total sales in Q1 reached over 8,000 units. While it was expected there would be a significant rise on last year’s figures due to the pandemic, sales this year were 2.9% above 2019 levels, suggesting ‘significant momentum’ in the market in the early months of the year.
The figures were released by the construction equipment statistics exchange, run by Systematics International Ltd. This scheme is run in partnership with the Construction Equipment Association (CEA).
Growth is still being driven by excavators. Mini/midi excavators (up to 10 tonnes) and other crawler excavators saw the strongest growth compared with Q1 last year. Amongst other equipment types, road rollers and telehandlers also showed strong recoveries.