AEM, construction equipment--AEM Construction Equipment Outlook Predicts Business Upticks into 2013

December 16, 2010—The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) recently released its construction equipment “business outlook” survey. Results show construction machinery manufacturers predict overall business in the United States to close out 2010 with 6.4-percent growth, then gain 12.7 percent in 2011 and 14.8 percent in 2012, followed by 2013 growth of 13.0 percent. 

Canadian business overall is expected to be 8.2 percent higher in 2010 than the previous year, and record gains of 12.0 percent in 2011, 14.8 percent in 2012 and 12.7 percent in 2013.

Industry business to the rest of the world is anticipated to be strongest in 2010—up by 14.7 percent—and then grow 11.8 percent in 2011, 12.5 percent in 2012 and 11.2 percent in 2013.

“While this rebound is welcome, you have to remember our industry was down 30 to 50 percent in the recession, so there is a long way to go. Although business is improving, it will take years to recover the sales losses of 2008-2009,” stated Dennis Slater, president of AEM.

"This hopeful outlook will be difficult to achieve without action now on transportation infrastructure legislation and export-promotion policies. Infrastructure investment and export agreements are proven ways to create and maintain jobs for U.S. workers, for a sustainable recovery and meaningful uptick in equipment demand," Slater said.

AEM is the North American-based international trade group representing the off-road equipment manufacturing industry. Each business-activity forecast is the average of responses from manufacturers in each product line, predicting industry-wide expectations rather than individual company performance, and unit sales rather than company profitability. Full survey results can be found online at www.aem.org in the market information section.

The survey asked respondents to rank how several factors would influence sales. Not surprisingly, a key impediment to include the stagnant housing market, the availability of credit, and highway funding.

Source: Lift and Access