The Italian market for gardening machinery and greens maintenance closed 2011 with declines in sales of almost all types of equipment. Data provided by companies taking part in the Morgan survey group and elaborated by the manufacturers association, Comagarden (FederUnacoma), disclosed a 7% downturn for mowers, ride-ons off 4.4% and brush cutters falling 8.2%. Also moving down were trimmers, 4.2%, hedge trimmers, 2.8%, chainsaws, 3.4%, groundskeeping machines by 15.8% and bioshredders by 4.3%. The only types on the plus side were motor hoes, up 6%, and leaf collecting machines, ahead 0.7%. Overall, the market ended the year with a decrease of 4.8% under the total number of sales in 2010, at 1,182,410 units compared to 1,242,524 in the previous year. The data, showing sales at their lowest level in the past seven years, were strongly influenced by conditions in the closing quarter of the year when registrations plummeted 9.3%. The declines in October-December were especially steep for such types of machines as mowers, off 13.7% compared to the same quarter in 2010, brush cutters, down 15.8%, motor hoes, minus 25.8%, bioshredders, tumbling 20.8%, and groundskeeping machines, diving by 41.6%.
Comagarden President Roberto Peruzzo spoke of unusual weather patterns in the past year and an irregular distribution of rainfall. The head of the association within FederUnacoma which represents the sector noted, “This, in part, conditioned the development of the plants’ vegetation to reduce the number of maintenance interventions but the major reason probably has to be assigned to the general economic situation. The market in our country had a positive trend in the first half of the year, in line with a good general trend on the European market. The negative balance, unfortunately, developed in the second part of the year when the economic crisis surfaced in all its seriousness, resulting in the reduction of investments on the side of municipalities and professional users as much as for the vast public of hobbyists who were forced to erase from their family budgets spending items for taking care of their green areas.”
The outlook for 2012 is not positive because the market is continuing to suffer from the problems with the economic cycle. A time for monitoring the market and assessing possible recovery signals will come with the great EIMA International exhibition, scheduled for November 7 to 11, to feature EIMA Green, the specialized salon on machinery and equipment for gardening and groundskeeping. Peruzzo added, “Our companies will be solidly present for the appointment in Bologna with the technology, the design and overall quality which make them competitive at the international level which enable them to cope with the challenges of the market with determination, even in less favorable conditions.”
Rome, February 22 2012
Source: UNACOMA
