By exceeding 2021 levels, which were higher than the peak levels reached in 2018 and 2019, construction plant sales in 2022 reached their highest level since before the financial crash in 2008.

However, it would be wrong to think that the sales boom was being driven by a switch to different types of fuel. Although sales of electric powered equipment in 2022 was double 2021 levels, diesel power still accounts for around 98% of machine sales.

Rather, the sales spike appears to have been powered by a release of demand that had been suppressed by the global covid pandemic, coupled with the easing of global supply chain blockages towards the end of 2022.

According to data gathered for the Construction Equipment Association, UK plant sales in the fourth quarter of 2022 were 20% above the same quarter in 2021. As a result, sales for the full year were 2.9% above 2021 levels, reaching 37,400 units.

Excavator sales picked up significantly in the fourth quarter of 2022. After being well behind 2021 sales levels for much of the year, crawler excavators ended up at 3% above 2021 levels; mini/midi excavators saw sales reach similar levels to 2021.

Telehandlers (for the construction industry) showed the highest sales growth in 2022, at 15% above 2021 levels. Sales of wheeled loaders were weak in the last quarter and ended up 3.5% below 2021 levels for the year as a whole.

By contrast, sales of road rollers picked up at the end of the year and only ended up at just under 2% below 2021 levels after being much lower earlier in the year