Dealer Sales Decline 10.6%: Survey

July 13, 2020

Current quarter retail sales were down 10.6 percent, reports Evercore ISI. The research group attributed the falloff in global sales to the coronavirus pandemic, with Europe and the United States driving the drop.

Dealer inventory of new equipment declined sharply in the quarter, across all geographies, after being at 10-year highs the quarter before. Dealer new inventory globally is now modestly above the survey’s historical average, the organization said, with North American dealers reporting new-equipment inventory below average.

Used-equipment inventory, however, did inch higher, again at its highest level since the 2009.

Evercore ISI projects further reduction in inventory as dealers’ purchasing intentions are below sales outlooks. Dealer outlook is now down 8.5 percent year over year, compared to last year’s survey.

Evercore ISI also asked respondents if a second wave of economic shutdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic would change their willingness to order new equipment. Half said such concern would limit their purchase plans. Among North American firms who said a second wave would cause them to evaluate new-equipment plans, the average size of reduction in orders was 16 percent.

Source: Evercore ISI