New trailer demand in 2016 in western Europe will build on this year’s 9.6% growth rate and exceed the level of 2006 to have the third-highest trailer registration level on record, according to consulting group CLEAR International’s new report.
In 2015, the trailer market got off to a strong start with registrations of new trailers forecast to grow by 14.8% in the first half and 8.1% is forecast for the second.
The reason is that several markets which have struggled since the global financial crisis started 2015 very strongly. Italy, for example, was up 68% in the first four months of the year and will finish the year up by 61%. Spain, where registrations last year were half pre-crisis levels, started the year up 60% and will finish up 42%.
The Netherlands will finish 2015 up 22%. The UK, which set a new record for trailer demand in 2014, will smash that record in 2015.
These four countries plus Denmark and France will account for almost all the extra demand for trailers when compared with 2014. The forecast for the UK market has been increased in every year since it appears the new higher level of demand is sustainable.
These markets are basically featuring catch-up demand. In many European markets, the demand for new trailers has been so far below the long-term trend level for so many years that, as soon as companies regain the confidence to invest in new assets, the floodgates are opened and two or three years of exceptional increases (measured in percentage terms) are possible.
A cyclical slowdown is forecast in 2018.