Trailers and semi-trailers with a gross vehicle mass greater than 3.5 t:
March 2024 vs 2023: -35.3% (1,104 units registered versus 1,706)
The already significant contraction of the towed vehicle market worsened in March, with a drop of 35.3% compared to the same month last year. Monthly registrations stopped at just 1,104 new trailers and semi-trailers, compared to 1,706 in 2023. The aggregate data for the first quarter returns a volume of registrations equal to 3,292 units compared to 4,364 in the same period of the previous year (-24.6 %), highlighting a loss of 1,072 vehicles. In the first three months of 2024 the market reached levels far lower than in 2019, with a decline of 27.9% compared to the registrations at the time, equal to 4,567.
“It is now clear that the sector is going through a critical phase for which there is no sign of a trend reversal in the short term. In fact, we expect that the demand for new towed vehicles will continue to contract at least for the first half of 2024″, explains Michele Mastagni, Coordinator of the Trailers, Semi-trailers and Equipment Group at UNRAE.
“Despite the discouraging market data, the funds allocated by MIT in 2023 for incentives for the purchase of new trailers ended in just a few minutes on the click day in March, a sign that companies are interested in renewing their vehicles. However, this is not enough to ensure a concrete recovery and, in the hope that the appropriations for the current year will also be made available quickly, we reiterate the request for structural interventions that allow operators to plan multi-year investments”, continues Mastagni.
The Coordinator of the Association Group also underlines that: “The growing age of the fleet has become a no longer negligible issue as it threatens the safety of citizens. Keeping towed vehicles registered over 17 years ago on the road represents a constant danger on the roads. We estimate that, at the current rate of replacement, Italian freight transport companies would take 29 years to completely renew their fleets”.
“Finally, we reiterate once again the urgency of adapting the art. during the Senate examination of the Road Safety Bill. 61 of the Highway Code, so as to allow the circulation of 18.75 meter long vehicle complexes in our country too. This measure would guarantee lower CO2 emissions, reduced levels of road congestion, less impact on road infrastructure and at the same time greater productivity and competitiveness in road transport”, concludes Mastagni.
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