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2. Slow recovery forecast for UK mini excavator sales

The UK mini excavator market will see some rebound next year, but sales will remain below the levels of the last three years as the combined economic impacts of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic take their toll, according to a new report by Off-Highway Research.

Mini excavator sales in the UK have stood at 12,500-15,500 machines per year for the last five years, with sales hitting a record high in 2018.

Demand has fallen sharply in 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as uncertainty ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period on 1st January 2021. Those issues are expected to linger in the market in the coming years. Although a rebound in sales is expected next year1, sales are forecast to plateau in 2022-2024 around the lower limit of the annual sales where were seen in the late 2010s.

“Off-Highway Research believes that 2021 will be the start of a gradual market recovery, but it is unlikely that the level of sales will be as high as that of 2019 and it is likely that it will only be 2024 before the market could return to its pre-Covid strength,” said the new report.

Off-Highway Research’s new equipment analysis on the mini excavator industry in the UK is now available to download for subscribers to the European Service, who can login here. It can also be bought by non-subscribers here.

It is believed to be the most detailed and in-depth report ever published on the subject, with analysis covering market size, market shares, production, foreign trade, market structure, distribution networks, end customer groups, equipment population, machines available and a five-year forecast.

Contact [email protected] for more details about our reports and subscription packages.