Gardening: declining market in the first half-year
The market for gardening and landscaping machinery and equipment ends the first half of the year on a downward trend. Sales figures - processed by the Comagarden manufacturers' association on the basis of the Morgan survey network - indicate a 14.5% drop, in terms of quantity, compared to the first half of last year, with different trends for the various product types. These include chainsaws (-16.8%), tillers (-23%), garden tractors (-4.6%) and consumer ride-on mowers (-5.3%). Gardenvacs/Blower (-12.3%) and traditional lawn mowers also fell (-24.1%), even if within the typology the positive trend continues for robotic models, which recorded a 13% increase in the semester.
Among the few items in the black were hedge trimmers (+11.5%) and ride-on mowers for professional use, which showed a growth of 81.1%, albeit referring to a rather limited number of machines. The drop in sales - Comagarden explains - is due to a combination of factors, first and foremost economic uncertainty and inflation, with the consequent increase in list prices, which discourage purchases especially by the private and hobbyist public. Futhermore, there is the anomalous weather trend, which has seen long periods of drought alternating with floods that have negatively affected the development of vegetation, leading to a reduction in investments for maintenance in public parks, private gardens and sports facilities. Beyond the particular economic and meteorological context - Comagarden observes - a downsizing of the market was foreseeable, also to compensate for the impressive growth that occurred in the years 2020-2021 in conjunction with the Covid crisis, lockdowns and travel restrictions, which had fuelled greater attention to green care, especially on the part of private individuals and hobbyists.
A greater stabilisation of the economy and weather trend - Comagarden concludes - could allow a partial recovery of sales in the second half of the year, which is estimated to end with a deficit of around 6%, with about 1.2 million machines and equipment sold in total.
