896 new tractors have been registered in Ireland during the first quarter (January-March inclusive) of this year. That’s an increase of 25 units (or nearly 3%) compared with the same period of 2018.
The data is from the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA).
Most recently, the month of March saw 240 new tractors registered. That’s 14% higher than the figure for March of last year.
The three counties with the highest levels of registrations so far this year continue to be Cork (132 units), Tipperary (88 units) and Wexford (71 units).
The ‘official’ data was released today (Friday, April 19). According to Gary Ryan, chief executive of the FTMTA, the figures “highlight a continuing uplift in the fortunes of the Irish tractor market”.
He explained: “The healthy spread of new registrations across the country seen in the first two months continued in March, with evidence of good activity in what might be seen as primarily dairy farming counties.
“Leitrim is the only county with year-to-date registrations that are still in single digits.”
He added: “The FTMTA figures will often differ when compared with other ‘quoted’ registration data.
“That’s because the FTMTA figures are thoroughly checked to remove items such as UTVs and other self-propelled equipment. Such vehicles are sometimes included as ‘tractors’ in figures from other sources.
“The FTMTA figures are of great importance to our trade and our member firms, so we take considerable care to ensure their accuracy. We are confident that our monthly figures are the most accurate and consistent measure of the tractor and self-propelled machinery markets available.”
Interestingly, in related news, registration data collated by Motorcheck.ie suggests that John Deere has sold more new tractors thus far in 2019 than either Massey Ferguson or New Holland.
Also Read: Which tractor brand is on top here in Ireland in 2019?However, AgriLand’s own analysis – based on what we believe to be the actual numbers of ‘tractors’ registered (as opposed to other types of vehicles) – suggests that Massey Ferguson was the market leader during the first three months of 2019.
Our reckoning is that Massey Ferguson is on top (with a market share of 21.4%), followed by New Holland (20.5%) in second position and John Deere (18.3%) in third place.
