Very high registrations in April 2019 (associated with the original planned date for the UK to leave the EU) meant that it was always likely that the number of agricultural tractors (over 50hp) registered in the same month this year would be significantly lower, according to the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) in the UK. That proved to be the case this year, with the number of new tractors registered in April 2020 less than half that of a year earlier, at 862 units.
This is the lowest April figure since at least 2000, although it may have been affected by slight delays in processing registrations at DVLA, due to Coronavirus. Registrations during the month will no doubt also have been reduced by a number of factory closures across Europe.
The latest figure brings the total for the year to date to 3,677 machines, 23% down on the equivalent period last year and the lowest for the opening four months of the year since 2016.
