Italian incentives ‘make little impact’ on machine sales

The latest round of fiscal incentives by the Italian government have failed to make a big impact on sales of earthmoving equipment.

According to Unacea, the Italian construction equipmemnt association, and Assodimi, the Italian rental and distributors body, this second tranche of incentives had a slightly greater impact than the first incentives, but still only generated sales of betwen 100 and 200 machines worth no more than €2 million.

The two associations said that the incentives generated total sales valued at €76 million, but said the vast majority was related to agricultural equipment. The Italian government does not distinguish between earthmoving equipment and agricultural machines in its statistics, making it difficult to estimate the actual impact.

Assodimi and Unecea said; "The forecasts at the end of the year for the Italian market of earthmoving machines indicate [that the market ] is still stagnant."

Unacea's members account for more than two thirds of the total Italian production capacity of earthmoving equipment, while Assodimi has 500 associate members.