Tractors in a rut
Page 21
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DURING a quick conversation with any one of the large number of tractor manufacturers present at the 1983 Smithfield Show held last weekend, you'd be likely to hear these same words used by the commercial vehicle industry.
"Patchy sales, horrendous discounting and too many manufacturers chasing too small a market."
Add to this a business that has been in the grips of one kind of recession or another since 1976 — a full three years before the effect was first felt by the cv sector — and you have a quick thumbnail sketch of the state of the UK tractor market.
Despite a slight upward trend in sales in early 1983 caused by the previous good 1982 harvest, the summer drought will put even greater restrictions on agricultural spending, clearly illustrating how further dependent the sale of agricultural machinery is on the weather.
For the 30 or more manufacturers selling in the UK, the market is continuing to shrink. This is not helped by an increase in individual farm acreages giving a rise towards fewer and higherpowered models sold, although the average farm tractor is still a two-wheel-drive vehicle, powered by a naturally aspirated four-cylinder diesel engine producing 80-90hp.
Although it was a specialised show, there were still a number of road transport exhibits among the combines and balers.
• By Brian Weatherley