Tractor registrations hit new low

With a mere 500 new units registered in the month of January, tractor sales in the UK during the first month of the year slipped to a 20-year low due to supply chain problems.

Stephen Howarth of the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA), the trade body for UK’s machinery dealer sector said that the figure was 14 per cent behind last January’s sales.

“The slowdown in UK tractor registrations which was apparent in the second half of 2021 continued into the New Year”, said Howarth.

“Numbers continue to be suppressed by widespread disruptions to global supply chains, which are leading to delays in supplying tractors (and other types of machinery) to customers,” he added.

It is understood that the global shortage of computer chips – which play an increasingly important role in today’s highly technical tractors - has been adding to an already difficult situation, with delays building up due to backlogs caused by Covid restrictions, factory closures and reduced hours.

Howarth said that other complex pieces of kit such as harvesters and telehandlers had also been affected, with long lead times reaching nine months to a year in some cases.

But for less complex implements lead times although still considerably longer than normal were typically in the region of six months.

He also said that demand was remaining high, with many dealers who were currently enjoying full order books suffering frustration at not being able to supply equipment – and at a time of shortages, this was exacerbating the already long lead times.