Some 96,428 tractors were registered across Europe in the first six months of 2019, according to European farm machinery industry association, CEMA. Of these registrations, 21,285 tractors were 50hp (37kW) and under, and 75,143 were 51hp (38kW) and above.

CEMA says 77,383 of these vehicles are agricultural tractors, the rest being quads, telehandlers or other equipment.

Agricultural tractor registrations increased by around 10% in comparison with the first six months of 2018. Registrations in 2018 were affected by new Tractor Mother Regulations, which came into force on 1 January 2018. This resulted in a high number of pre-registered tractors in December 2017, without an increase in underlying demand.

Markets

Germany and France remain the two biggest tractor markets in Europe. New tractor registrations increased by 21% and 47 % respectively, in the first six months of 2019 versus 2018.

In France, tractor registrations are booming and are expected to show a 25% year-on-year growth. This is linked to the increase in agricultural income in France, and the rebound of investments in French farms after some slow years. A downturn in growth is expected in the second half.

Italy saw a more modest increase of registrations (+6%), while Spain benefited from a solid +19%. In the UK however, registrations fell by 3.5%. There were notable increases in Finland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia and notable decreases in the Netherlands, Belgium and Slovakia.

The other large tractor market is Turkey, where sales are reported to have declined 62% this year, a drop-off that is expected to continue all year long.

The downtrend in the Turkish economy, rise in interest rates and currency levels, and the significant increase in agricultural input prices are behind the slowdown.