Inventories for aerial lifts and forklifts continued to rise in November, further dropping equipment values and putting more pressure on the material handling sector.
Lift values have fallen sharply as inventory remains elevated, making assets difficult to move, while increased rental acquisitions and dealers entering the rental market are adding further pressure to pricing, Jim Ryan, equipment lease and finance manager at Sandhills Global, told Equipment Finance News.
“Rental has become such a fad thing right now that it’s extremely hurt the retail and wholesale side of things because they’re dumping a lot of their excess stuff into that market,” he said.
“People, traditionally, that were buying are now going into the rental side of things, so you have this glut of inventory here, and the buyer pool isn’t there.” — Jim Ryan, equipment lease and finance manager, Sandhills Global
Meanwhile, the rental model continues to gain popularity with dealers due to its profit potential, despite concerns about inventory, presenting more opportunities for lenders as well as dealers, Michael Sharov, a partner in consulting firm Oliver Wyman’s Transportation and Advanced Industrials practice, told EFN.
“You can have the rental revenue, you can be selling used, and then you’ve got the annuity on the aftermarket side, so it’s going to become a lot more popular,” he said. “A lot of these financial mechanisms and how you fund them and the current situation are going to change. There’s going to be an impact.”
Used aerial lifts
- Inventory rose 8.4% year over year and 1.5% month over month;
- Asking values dropped 3.4% YoY and 0.3% MoM; and
- Auction values declined 5.8% YoY and 0.9% MoM.
Used forklifts
- Inventory rose 23.2% YoY but fell 6% MoM;
- Asking values increased 3.3% YoY and 4.4% MoM; and
- Auction values declined 2.9% YoY but rose 5.7% MoM.
Used telehandlers
- Inventory went up 16.5% YoY but slipped 1.6% MoM;
- Asking values increased 1.4% YoY but inched down 0.3% MoM; and
- Auction values declined 2.5% YoY and 0.1% MoM.
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